The new Drone Rules 2021 in India are here, and have signalled a major move by the central government to liberalise and ease the erstwhile stringent regulation of drones in India. The move has a number of implications, starting with the commercial sector – where the government has announced the setting up of a council to help frame a drone regulatory framework that supports businesses, increased the payload limit of drones to include heavier drones, and also announced the introduction of a drone corridor for cargo deliveries. The new Drone Rules 2021 signify a move of clear intent from the government to promote drones in India, and this move can have a key impact on casual users and everyday individuals owning drones for recreational usage.
At the heart of why the new Drone Rules 2021 may help cause a growth in private drone owners in India is the announcement that people owning and flying micro drones and nano drones for non-commercial purposes will not be required to owning a drone pilot’s licence. In tandem, the government has also reduced the Yellow Zone in the Indian airspace to 12km, down from 45km before. The Yellow Zone is an intermediate flying zone where only strictly regulated airspace activity is permitted, and reduction of this zone means larger chunks of areas falling within the Green Zone – where private owners and users would be allowed to fly and operate their drones.
The new Drone Rules 2021 also mandate the establishment of the Digital Sky Platform online portal, which can be used to apply online to register drones, and get the registration document easily as well. As a result, casual users may also be able to host drone races and other recreational activities legally, India. Drone racing is typically seen as an attractive casual sport in various nations, and with the liberalisation, more drones and drone makers from international markets may also make their products available in India. All of this suggests that with the government making drones more easily accessible for all, private owners of drones are bound to grow.
On both commercial and research fronts, the new Drone Rules 2021 have been largely greeted on a positive note. Nishant Pitti, co-founder and CEO of EaseMyTrip, stated, “The new rules have been lauded by stakeholders for simplifying procedures and reducing the compliance burden.” The research and development sector has also reacted positively to the new regulations. Abhay Karandikar, director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, said, “We expect that almost all sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, defence and law enforcement shall gain tremendously from these rules. Another boost will come with the removal of Type Certificate, Unique Identification Number and remote pilot license for R&D entities operating drones in their premises.”
With a holistic approach at making drones available and accessible for all, the market now seems open for startups, research centres, commercial entities and users to own and operate drones for respective tasks. It will therefore be interesting to see how the Indian airspace reacts to this announcement, and if casual drone uses such as racing and photography finally pick up pace in the country.
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