The Union Cabinet on Wednesday announced a Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the drones and drone component industries that offers an incentive of 20 per cent of the value addition made by a manufacturer of drones and drone components. The PLI scheme for drones and drone components spread over three financial years, will lead to investments worth Rs 5,000 Crore, increase in eligible sales of Rs 1500 crore and create additional employment of about 10,000 jobs.
Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur on Wednesday announced that the Cabinet has approved the PLI scheme for drones and drone component industries, saying that Rs 120 crores to the drone industry under the budgetary provision for the PLI scheme.
“A product specific PLI scheme for drones with clear revenue targets and focus on domestic value addition is key to building capacity and making these key drivers of India’s growth strategy.
The PLI for Drones and Drone components industry, will over a period of three years, lead to investments worth Rs 5,000 Crore, increase in eligible sales of Rs 1500 crore and create additional employment of about 10,000 jobs,” the Government said in a statement.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation expects the annual sales turnover of the drone manufacturing industry to grow from Rs 60 crore in 2020-21 to over Rs 900 crore in 2023-24. According to the Ministry, the PLI scheme covers a variety of drone components which Airframe, propulsion systems(engine and electric), power systems, batteries and associated components, launch and recovery systems, Inertial Measurement Unit, Inertial Navigation System, flight control module, ground control station and associated components.
The Ministry has notified the rules for the drone industry last month, relaxing the rules specifying no security clearance requirement before any registration or licence issuance for operating the drones.
Under the new rules, several approvals are abolished. These comprise unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisation, student remote pilot licence, remote pilot instructor authorisation, drone port authorisation, and import permission for drone components.