'Will help in making India a drone hub': PM Modi after Drone Rules liberalized

New Delhi, Aug 27: The government notified the Drone Rules 2021 with an aim to liberalize the stringent regime for civilian drone operations that it had established in 2018 when these drones were allowed for the first time.

 

This development came as earlier rules and regulations involved considerable paperwork, required permissions for every drone flight, and very few “free to fly” green zones were available. Based on this, the Civil Aviation Ministry decided to repeal the UAS Rules, 2021, and replace the same with the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021.

 

 

The current regulations notified by Ministry have lowered entry barriers — including cutting the number of registration forms to be filled to five from 25, and the number of fees payable to four from 72 — to make it simpler for operators to start using drones.

 

 

“The new Drone Rules usher in a landmark moment for this sector in India. The rules are based on the premise of trust and self-certification. Approvals, compliance requirements and entry barriers have been significantly reduced,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet.

 

 

“The new Drone Rules will tremendously help start-ups and our youth working in this sector. It will open up new possibilities for innovation & business. It will help leverage India’s strengths in innovation, technology & engineering to make India a drone hub,” he added.

 

 

The Ministry came up with 30 key features of Drone Rules 2021 and stated "India has the potential to be global drone hub by 2030". Norms have been liberalised within the zones as well. The yellow zone now extends to only 12 km from the perimeter of an airport, lowered from 45 km earlier. Beyond 12 km will be the green zone, where no permissions are now needed to fly.

 

It also said safety features like ‘no permission, no take-off’, real-time tracking beacon, and geo-fencing, etc. would be notified in the future with a minimum six-month lead time for compliance.