Himachal Pradesh Signs INR 200 Cr MoU With FICCI To Promote Drone Production

With an aim to promote drone adoption under governance, the Himachal Pradesh government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) worth INR 200 Cr, with Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) to manufacture drones in the state. 

The government also signed agreements with Aebocode Technologies and Dronetech Solutions for investment. 

According to an Economic Times report, for unmanned flight operations and air traffic management, the government signed an MoU with SkyeAir in collaboration with the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPKV) and IIT Ropar. 

Other than drone technologies, this collaboration between CSKHPKV and IIT Ropar is aimed at development of areas such AI-based digital entomology, livestock management, cold chain management and precision agriculture, mining, telecom, etc.

Addressing the closing ceremony of the ‘Drone conclave’ organised in Kangra’s Palampur, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured that all possible support will be extended to the investors for the projects signed. 

He further added that the government will also procure drones for its own functions. 

In addition, at the conclave, discussions around the critical roles of drones in sectors such as medical supplies, supply chains, and infrastructure management were also held. 

Both state governments and the central government have been actively promoting the usage of drones for a while. Recently, the central government has relaxed the norms for the export of certain drones meant for civilian uses, to facilitate the outbound shipments of high-tech items. 

Between August 2021 and February 2022, the country has witnessed a 34.4% rise in the number of drone or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) startups. Addressing the growing affinity of the Indian entrepreneurs towards the sector, last year, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said that India has the potential to become the global drone hub by 2030. 

Since January last year, more than 15 drone startups including Aarav Unmanned Systems, DroneAcharya Aerial, Endure Air among others have raised an overall funding of about $54 Mn. In addition, DronAcharya got listed, while another drone startup Ideaforge’s public issue was subscribed 106x at the end of the day four.