Can new guidelines on drone operations lift India's drone start-ups?

India has fewer start-ups in the drone technology space than the US and China; it also lags most other economies in funding

The government last month announced the new draft guidelines for drone operations in India. The Drone Rules, 2021, are a major revision to the drone policy in the country, which has been in limbo until now. While the government has made revisions to drone policy every year since 2018, it has not formalised any guidelines until now. Meanwhile, start-ups in the sector have multiplied.

Last year, when the Tamil Nadu government was struggling to sanitise areas, they had to rely on a Chennai-based drone start-up, Garuda, to disinfect hospitals. In the following months, Garuda was employed by various other states