Total ban on drone imports to encourage local startups, says minister Naidu

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Union Minister of Civil Aviation K Ram Mohan Naidu on Tuesday said India has totally banned the import of drones to encourage local talent to manufacture them.

Addressing the two-day national drone summit at Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, the Civil Aviation Minister noted that the government banned drone imports as it does not want some other country or company to benefit at the cost of India.

We have banned the total import of drones, why did we do it? We want to encourage more startups to come in this drone sector. We want the people of this country to manufacture drones. We don't want to import drones and let the benefit go to some other country or some other company, said Naidu.

According to the union minister, the government wants the young and bright minds of the country to develop new types of drones to cater to solutions which are indigenous to the country, so, with that mindset we banned imports.

The aviation minister highlighted that the Centre has liberalised rules for the drone ecosystem and enabled 27 companies to benefit from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

Noting that India has emerged as a drone hub in the past few years, he said the government wants to push the industry further.

"Looking at a drone hub in Andhra Pradesh in the future... want to ensure that Andhra Pradesh grows to the best of its ability," he said, adding that the government wants to ensure that the southern state will emerge as the drone hub of the world.

The mega-drone summit on October 22 and 23 will feature drone hackathons, exhibitions and participation from industry experts.

As many as 1,711 delegates and 1,306 visitors are expected to attend the summit, among others.