Restrictive export policies of the Indian government are turning out to be a barrier for the country's nascent drone industry, with authorisations for exports taking anywhere between three and six months, drone manufacturers told Moneycontrol. This issue was highlighted during a recent meeting between Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia and industry stakeholders, sources said.
While ideaForge said it had received authorisations after nearly six months in certain cases, Kadet Defence Systems told Moneycontrol that approvals sometimes came after three to four months. Drone manufacturers said that the delay in giving authorisations was impacting future orders as customers were getting frustrated.
"The customers' frustration is impacting future orders. New customers are completely resistant to such lead times, so we end up losing them because of the vagaries in the timeline. Furthermore, even demo systems go through a similar process and time, which further delays the sales process," Ankit Mehta, CEO and co-founder of ideaForge, a Mumbai-based UAV systems company, told Moneycontrol.
However, where is the delay taking place? Mehta said that the delay takes place after applying for export authorisation under Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET). "Once we apply to SCOMET, we don't have visibility to the entire process but approval takes a lot of time. Some applications take more than 6 months as well," he said.
According to the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), "Export of Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET).. shall be permitted only against an export authorisation issued on this behalf unless export is prohibited or is permitted without authorisation subject to fulfillment of conditions, if any, as indicated under/against any specific category or item."
According to the list of commodities listed under SCOMET, drones are mostly classified as defence products such as 'unmanned aerial vehicles including cruise missiles, target drones and reconnaissance drones and related equipment' and so on.
"The fact is, firstly, there is no clear SCOMET classification for drones and, secondly, Indian Customs do not have clarity on which class of drones need SCOMET and which do not. They end up asking for SCOMET even for systems that do not fall under the controlled list," Mehta added. Moneycontrol reached out to officials of DGFT for clarifications in this regard, but we are yet to receive any response.
Avdhesh Khaitain, founder and CEO of Kadet Defence Systems urged the government to make the process less rigorous for non-defence-related UAVs. " The process should be made less rigorous for non-defence UAVs and there should be no restriction for export in such category. Drones are dual-use items and the classification of them as a defence product elongates the process. A mechanism to export commercial drones without any restrictions would be the only way to fulfil the national dream of making India the drone hub of the world."
Mehta from ideaForge said, "There should be a clearly defined category and a mechanism to declare the certified drone as export ready. There should be a shorter, smarter process for exports of demo products. There is a need to educate Indian Customs and ready them for official drone exports and types of drones."
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