How The Government’s Half-Baked Drone Policy Has Grounded Startups In India

How The Government’s Half-Baked Drone Policy Has Grounded Startups In India

SUMMARY

India’s Digital Sky plan to monitor drone flight paths and clearances has seen no development

The government-mandated training centres, test labs under Drone Regulations 1.0 are not functional

It will take 6-12 months for these regulations to become functional, many drone startup founders told Inc42

On December 1, 2018, when then commerce and civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu greenlit the Drone Regulations 1.0, a policy that allows civil or commercial unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aircraft systems (UAVs or UAS) to fly as planned, the small fraternity of drone industry was quite enthusiastic about the future of this sector. It was a relief after seeing the ban on drone use lifted and regulation introduced.“Lots of small, small operational issues are still there. Right now even after being compliant, one can’t take the permission to operate.” – Vipul Singh

Unlike other policies, India’s drone regulations 1.0 was termed as a piece of tech art, as unlike other parts of the world, it envisioned the functioning of a Digital Sky platform which would be more advanced than the United States’ UTM (unmanned aircraft traffic management system). The Digital Sky was promised as a means to not only track drones in real-time but gives the officials authority to monitor and control the entire drone management system as well as determine take-off time and zones.

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