Interesting step towards industrial innovation
Using the nation's resources efficiently ought to be of supreme national interest. Thus, the Government's proposal to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), popularly called as drones, in the mining sector should be studiously welcomed. Nations that know how to use resources and deploy them for citizens' welfare have social and economic advantage over those that do not know how to put the natural resources bestowed on them efficiently, albeit, also justly, for industrial advancement and citizens' welfare. The Government's decision to use drones for plan preparation, area inspection and for the significant purpose of mineral exploration is evidentially solid and rests on firm empirical ground. Although, India is not the first nation to use drones for mining purposes.
Advanced economies such as Australia and the United States have used drones for purposes as diverse as mining and agriculture. The Government's plan to use drones widely is still in the pipeline. The Ministry of Mines has asked its exploration company Mineral Exploration Corporation limited to test few drones on experimental basis and thus, gauge its potential to work in Indian environmental conditions. Even though, the project is merely in first phase of execution, the Ministry is using what is euphemistically referred to as innovation in the private sector. To use a technology than what it was originally intended for, is part of the highly respected practice of innovation. Thus, with anticipation, the Union Government has correctly employed the best practice that can enormously boost growth in mining exploration.
Drones were originally intended only for military purposes. Commenting on the novel usage of drones, Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar said, “If a mining plan has to be prepared for a 100 square kilometre area, the drone can do a broad survey of the whole region, along with its geology, within eight or 10 days. The same work, if done manually, takes two to three months.” The mining sector has for far too long been looking for new explorative technologies that can support its growth. Introduction of drones will serve as a catalyst in putting the available resources to most productive use and consequently lead to enhanced industrial output in the mining sector. Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, has supported the Government in this purpose.
The collaboration between the Government and educational institutions in tackling stubborn social, economic and environmental problem should become a rule rather than an exception. A growing economy as India's, would receive the much-needed knowledge support if its higher educational institutions does not merely function as knowledge-givers, but more importantly as knowledge-creators and collaborators working actively with State Governments and the private sector for higher economic and technological gain. The Ministry's decision to deploy drones in the mining sector is a scrupulous technological step.