Commercial use of drones likely to take some time; few layers of testing are still pending, say govt officials

Delivery of COVID-19 vaccines by drones is expected to begin, transporting 10,000 vials from a central location to primary health centres nearby (Representational Image)

While the government’s draft Drone Rules 2021 is a big step in easing regulations to promote the sale and manufacture of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in India, the country is still a while away from permitting the commercial use of drones.

``We are testing them in open spaces such as agricultural fields, mines, pipelines, disaster relief, transmission towers etc, where they are hugely beneficial," a government official told Moneycontrol.

However, before the commercial use of drones can be allowed, especially in densely populated urban areas, all safety and privacy issues must be addressed, the official said.

Visual line of delivery 

Flying drones beyond visual line of sight or for delivery of goods has not been granted permission under the new proposed rules in India.

They can be used to conduct surveys, for photography, security, information gathering purposes, disaster management, and surveillance operations.

The major issues that need to be addressed include operation of drones around army cantonments and other high security areas.

Also needed are a new set of rules to monitor and track drone movement, the official said.

Storage facility

The government will also have to create a storage facility to stock information collected from drones and a system to manage drone traffic in the country.

At the moment, most such operations are happening through exemptions.

While the government is already testing Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) experimental flights of drones, about three more levels of testing is due before commercial drones will be allowed in the country, the government official added.

BVLOS is the second stage of testing drones and UAVs, as they are generally operated within the visual line of sight during the first phase of testing.

In May, the government had also allowed 20 entities, including Spicejet and Dunzo Air Consortium, to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight experimental flights of drones.

"The ongoing BVLOS trials will help create a framework for future drone deliveries and other major applications using drones," the government official said.

He added that in the past, pilot testing and experimenting by the government have taken a long time to submit comprehensive conclusions, but the new draft policy presents an opportunity for companies to start research and development projects and put forward their studies to the government.

This will help them speed up the process to formulate a policy for the commercial use of drones as well.

Indian drone industry willing 

The Indian drone industry is aware of the government's concerns and is willing to work with them to obtain necessary approvals.

"The Indian Railways, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), along with many private companies are already working on pilot projects for the commercial use of drones. These projects will speed up the data required by the government to formulate a commercial drone policy," a market expert from one of the four big analyst firms said.

Some trials have already started and others like “Medicines from the Sky,” an initiative of the Telangana government and the World Economic Forum (WEF), are slated to begin soon, pending some approvals.

"The reality is that the country does have several lakh unregistered drones and while most do not have any military-grade capabilities, even one modified drone used to harm citizens is one too many,” Satyendra Pandey, managing partner at AT-TV, told Moneycontrol in an earlier interview.

Smit Shah, Director, Drone Federation of India, had also told Moneycontrol that no policy initiatives can counter the threat from drones.

The only thing that the government needs to do is promote the development of drone technology and counter-drone technology, he said.