Modi govt announces new draft rules for managing drones after drone attacks

New Delhi, July 16: The civil aviation ministry led by Jyotiraditya Scindia issued the Draft Drones Rules for 2021, asking for public feedback. This comes only days after PM Narendra Modi held a meeting with top ministers to discuss the creation of a drone traffic control plan. This development came as drone attacks took place at an Indian Air Force station in Jammu.

 

 

 

Scindia, in a series of tweets, stated that the policy would give a huge boost to the drone sector and will be a significant departure from previous regulations, while also outlining the positives. “Drones are ushering in the next great technological revolution across the world, reducing operational costs, resources, and time. It is up to us to catch the new wave and help it catch on, particularly among our startups. Congratulations!”

 

 

According to the draft drone rules, approvals for the unique authorization number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permits, authorization of research and development organizations, student remote pilot license, remote pilot instructor authorization, and drone port authorization, among others, have been incorporated. The regulations include references to an interactive airspace map depicting green, yellow, and red zones that will be shown on the Digital Sky.

 

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) provides an online portal for activities relating to the management of drone operations in India. The draft rules state, "Within 30 days of the date of notification of these rules, the Central Government may publish on the digital sky platform an airspace map for drone operations segregating the entire airspace of India into red, yellow, and green zones, with a horizontal resolution equal to or finer than 10 meter, with a horizontal resolution equal or finer than 10 meter."

 

 

The yellow zone around the airport has been decreased from 45 to 12 kilometers. No flying clearance will be needed for flights exceeding 400 feet in green zones and 200 feet in regions between 8 and 12 kilometers from the airport's perimeters.

 

 

Green zone refers to the airspace from the ground up to a vertical height of 400 feet (120 meters) above ground level (AGL) that has not been designated as a red or yellow zone on the airspace map for drone operations. Also, it refers to the airspace from the ground up to a vertical height of 200 feet (60 meters) AGL in the area between a lateral distance of 8 and 12 kilometers from the periphery.

 

 

The red zone refers to a designated region of airspace over India's land areas or territorial seas, as well as any installation or declared port boundaries established by the Central Government outside India's territorial waters, where drone activities are only allowed in extraordinary situations.