Govt Inks MoU With Mahindra Group To Skill 500 Women In Drone Operation

The union government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Indian conglomerate Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) to conduct two pilot projects under the Centre’s ambitious “Drone Didi” scheme. 

Under the partnership, the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) and M&M will train 500 women in operating drones for agricultural purposes. The pilot projects will be conducted at the Hyderabad and Noida campuses of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI).

“The learning and outcomes from the pilot projects will assist (the) MSDE in scaling up the Drone Didi Yojana at identified NSTIs/ITIs across the country. As a further support to the intent of the Drone Didi Yojana, M&M will soon roll out drone training for women at the company’s skilling centres at Zaheerabad, Telangana, and Nagpur, Maharashtra,” said the statement 

An official statement said that the women in exclusive batches of 20 women each for the 15-day curriculum, which will be delivered by instructors from the remote pilot training organisation (RPTO) at these centres. 

The MoU was signed at an event in New Delhi on Friday (May 9), which was attended by MSDE Secretary Atul Kumar Tiwari, Mahindra Group’s group CEO and managing director Anish Shah, and other senior officials of the Ministry. 

Under the pilot, NSTIs will select participants, offer the infrastructure for the training programme and provide hostel facilities. On the other hand, Mahindra Group will provide the initial set up  including the drones, simulator controller, simulator software, trainers, among others. The conglomerate will also bear the operating costs for the duration of the two projects.

Speaking about the collaboration, Mahindra Group’s Anish Shah said, “… The pilot under the Drone Didi Yojana represents a first-of-its-kind convergence of women, farming, and technology. We are absolutely delighted to provide technology training to grassroots women and ensure that agriculture is equipped for the future”.

MSDE Secretary Tiwari added that the project will leverage the “agricultural expertise” of M&M via the training module and advance the Ministry’s vision to equip selected candidates with the practical skills and competencies. 

Launched officially in March this year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Drone Didi scheme aims to empower rural women by training them to operate drones for agricultural purposes. Operating under the aegis of Sashakt Nari-Viksit Bharat programme, the initiative aims to create new opportunities of  livelihood for women by imparting skills in emerging areas of technology.

Under the programme, 15,000 women will receive agricultural drones to assist in crucial tasks such as crop monitoring, fertiliser spraying, and seed sowing. 

The scheme also found mention in Budget 2024 speech, wherein the allocation for the project was increased to INR 500 Cr from last year’s INR 200 Cr. It is pertinent to note that the project was announced by PM Modi in November last year. 

The pilots come at a time when the homegrown drone manufacturing sector continues to soar high on the back of the Centre’s INR 120 Cr production-linked-incentive (PLI) scheme, a ban on the import of drones and liberalising the drone certification regime.

As a result, this has led to the emergence of many local manufacturing startups as well as drone-focussed arms of conglomerates such as Reliance, Adani Group, Mahindra, among others. 

As per Inc42 data, the Indian drone market is expected to reach a size of $13 Bn in size by 2030.