India to launch Drone Shakti mission soon
India will soon launch a mission to achieve technology sovereignty in the manufacturing of drones, which are playing a key role in applications ranging from product delivery to warfare.
“In the immediate future, we are going to launch the Drone Shakti Mission that will offer incentives to manufacture components used in drones, instead of assembling drones using imported components,” said Ajay Kumar Sood, the principal scientific advisor to the Government of India.
He told reporters that the mission has twin objectives — to incentivise component manufacturing and promote research and development required for high-end drones.
Sood said the Drone Shakti Mission will be launched under the Anusandhan National Research Foundation that aims to foster a culture of research, development and innovation in the country.
The top scientific advisor said the government was also looking at the fields of advanced manufacturing and robotics to achieve the goal of technology sovereignty.
Drones were widely used in Operation Sindoor by the armed forces to trace and destroy high-value targets, including enemy radar and missile systems inside Pakistan.
Loitering munitions, also known as “suicide drones” or “kamikaze drones,” are weapons systems that can hover or circle a target area, searching for a suitable target before attacking.
Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said every major reform undertaken by the government was technology-enabled.
This transformation has been possible due to the consistent prioritisation of science, technology, and innovation in national policy making, he said.
The minister said a major highlight of the year was the Research, Development and Innovation Fund of Rs one lakh crore, under which the Government directly supported research and development in the private sector.
Complementing this, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation has been established to democratise research funding, expand participation beyond elite institutions and mobilise nearly 50-60 per cent of its resources from non-government sources, including philanthropy and industry, Singh added.
