Govt sets up 13-member task force for unmanned aerial vehicle tech road map

The task force would be headed by Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha

The government on Thursday announced setting up of a 13-member task force, headed by Union minister Jayant Sinha, to prepare a roadmap for the implementation of unmanned aerial vehicle technology.

The task force would develop a roadmap with implementable recommendations for central as well as state governments, industry and research institutions, an official release said.

Headed by Sinha, who is the Minister of State for Civil Aviation, the task force would have Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra and DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek as members.

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff Lt Gen Satish Dua, Bureau of Police Research and Development's Director General A P Maheshwari, DGCA Director General B S Bhullar, DRDO Chairman and Secretary S Christopher, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research's Director General and Secretary Girish Sahni, AAI Chairman Guruprasad Mohapatra are in the task force.

S K Mishra, Joint Secretary at the Civil Aviation Ministry, and A K Ghosh, HoD of Aerospace Engineering Department at IIT Kanpur are also part of the panel.

Besides, 20 industry experts would be co-opted as special invitees to the task force on need basis. They include BEL CMD Gowtama M V, Boeing International Corporation India President Pratyush Kumar, HAL CMD T Suvarna Raju and Lockheed Martin India Chief Executive Phil Shaw.

The committee would prepare a roadmap, including "outcomes, timelines, implementation & review mechanism and measurable metrics" for the implementation of UAV technology. Besides, the role of the industry would be clearly delineated, according to the release.

It would also focus on research and development, acquisition and commercialisation, application and adoption in specific sectors, the regulatory framework as well as the preference for Make in India.