Ministry of Civil Aviation Names The 23 Drone PLI-Beneficiaries

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) on Wednesday has released the second provisional list of 23 beneficiaries under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drone and drone components.

The list includes 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers.

According to a statement from the ministry, the combined annual sales turnover of the 23 companies has increased from INR 88 Cr in FY 2020-21 to INR 319 Cr (unaudited) in FY 2021-22.

The Ministry invited applications from eligible manufacturers in May 2022. The shortlisted beneficiaries have crossed the eligibility criteria related to sales revenue and value addition in FY 2021-22, it said.

The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme includes an annual sales turnover of INR 2 Cr for drone companies and INR 50 Lakhs for drone components manufacturers, along with value addition of over 40% of sales turnover.

Earlier in April, the ministry released the first provisional list of beneficiaries based on the financial results submitted by the PLI applicants for the ten-month period (April 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022). The list included five drone manufacturers and nine component manufacturers.

The current list features Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, ideaForge Technology and IoTechWorld, Garuda Aerospace, Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, among others.

Drone manufacturing startup ideaForge raised $20 Mn in a Series B funding round led by private equity firm Florintree in April. Another startup Garuda Aerospace also secured an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Ocgrow Ventures in May.

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was notified in September 2021. Under the scheme, a total incentive of INR 120 Cr is spread over three financial years. While the PLI rate is 20% of the value addition, the manufacturers who fail to meet the value addition threshold in 2021-22 will be allowed to claim the lost incentive in the subsequent year if they make up the shortfall in 2022-23.

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