Question : Utilisation of Drones

(a) whether the Government has called for more effective utilisation of drone applications and urged the Ministry of Home Affairs to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles for surveillance, situational analysis, crime control, VVIP security, disaster management etc. to make India a global hub for drones under the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan and if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Ministry has written to other Ministries in the backdrop of liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 regarding benefits of drones to almost every sector of economy and suggested to promote effective use of technology for communication in remote areas, delivery of medicines, collection of samples etc. and if so, the details thereof; and
(c) whether the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has received a number of applications for permission to use drones from various quarters particularly from Tamil Nadu and if so, the details thereof?

Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (GEN. (DR) V. K. SINGH (RETD))

(a) & (b) Yes, Sir. Ministry of Civil Aviation has requested several Ministries including Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to encourage various entities under their administrative control to promote use of drones. ;
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Drones offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the economy like - agriculture, medicine delivery, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geo-spatial mapping, defence and law enforcement etc. An illustrative list of drone applications under different Ministries is attached herewith as Annexure.;
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(c) As per Drone Rules, 2021, operation of drones in zones marked red and yellow on the drone airspace map zones requires permission from the Central Government and the Air Traffic Control (ATC) authority respectively. No permission is required to operate a drone in a green zone which is where most of the drone operations currently happen. ;
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Till date, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has not received any application for permission to use drones in Tamil Nadu.