By Surbhi Mahajan

New Delhi. 13 July 2018. Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and its utility is an ongoing debate. Despite this India ranks one in the number of UAV in the world and still feels wanting. Make in India’ is the best scheme for UAS but are we doing enough of it? All these topics needed to be debated and were debated at FICCI’s day dedicated to unmanned systems.

Rahul Chaudhary Chair, FICCI Homeland Security Committee and Former CEO, Tata Power SED stated that India accounted for 23 % of the Unmanned Aircraft Vehicle in 1985 – 2001. India is currently considered as rank 1 followed by the UK and France for UAV in the world. He also mentioned the ability of Ministry of Home Affairs saying that if the ministry supports and join hands, it would be easier for the smooth functioning of the UAV in India. Amitabh Kant highlighted the 4 functional categories of UAV namely Military Applications, Civil Applications, Commercial UAVs, Research and Development. He briefly described about MINI UAV weighing 20 kgs with a height of 300 ft.

“There is vast potential for anti drone system.” said Amitabh Kant CEO, NITI Aayog, Govt. of India. “Drones are going to replace 80% potential of the manned aircraft.” Rammohan Thygaranjan, Partner, Digital EY , talked about Digital India and to why ‘Make in India’ is the best scheme for UAS. According to him Make In India would provide a wide market potential and thereby comparing regulations and creating an environment best suited for the production if UAS . He further mentioned about the various challenges India might face during the production process. Some of these included the policies, market competition and organizational readiness. UAS according to him can change India “It’s not just an eye in the sky” said Thygaranjan. Anil aggarwal of Law enforcement Department said that the Drones technology used these days are equivalent to the mobile technology 1998. Finally Anil concluded his speech with an assumption that registration of Drone is likely to begin soon also he quoted “Design in India, Manufacture in India, IT remains in India.” With few facts about 1.0 Policy and 2.0 Policy frameworks, Vaibhav Gupta, FICCI Homeland Security Committee and Director, MKU Pvt. Ltd., concluded the inaugural session.

In Session 1, India’s Business Opportunity in UAS was discussed by Adam Welsh, Head of Public Policy – APAC, DJI, followed by Partha Roy Chowdhury, Principal Investment Specialist, Invest India, Lt. Gen. Sanjeev Madhok, Head of Defence Business, Dynamatic Technologies Ltd., Jatin Singh, CEO, Skymet weather services. Distinguished Panelist, Welsh, talked about Making India Globally with his inspiring quote “Build in India and sell globally.” Solutions that he provided regarding UAV data were:-

  • Change wording in CAR to allow SIM to be in the controller. Change from RPA to RPAS
  • By putting the SIM in the controller – better chance of holding connections

Sujeet Samaddar, Sr. Consultant, NITI Aayog, said “Counter-drone systems have huge market but they suffer from various challenges also. He further talked about How to have Indian Systems for it. Mr. Roy said “Drone is not new but now we are using it more.” He further added that Drone can be very beneficial for the agriculture sector .The UAV spray used with precision can be best used for Indian crops which are grown together in one field. Some UAV Drones have inbuilt technology of sensing which area to cover. UAV will touch 21.47 billion by 2013 according to the reports. Mandatory requirements of Drones are in sectors like airports and many more and they range from Micro to Mini. List of countries provided by him using Drones are Germany, UK, Australia, Canada, China, France. In India, Drones are used for

  • Mapping slums for land tiling
  • Transportation

‘Big oil Drones are also there in UP, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana’ said Partha Roy Chowdhury, Principal Investment Specialist, Invest India. Lt. Gen. Sanjeev Madhok, Head of Defence Business, Dynamatic Technologies Ltd referred UAV as ‘Game of Drones’. UAS’s winning factors, according to him, are situational awareness and mobility. He spoke about shortening developing cycle and learning curve. Madhok, elaborating Tethered UAVs which are 24hrs up in the sky and emphasizing on the multitude usage of UAV, addressed Drone as ‘Bugs of Future’. He also confirmed that IAI is to manufacture UAV in India. Jatin Singh, CEO, Skymet weather services, who is a partner with State Bank of India, discussed how to use remotes and technologies. As he told, “India is a small farming country and Arial photography or UAVs have a large scope in the country. You can fly them anywhere anytime.” Recently, they are working with Maharashtra Govt. for UAV project. He also talked about the uses of UAV in Agriculture sector which includes over production, compensation and the time of harvest.

Challenges and way forward for UAS Industry in India was dealt in Session 2. The panel aimed to explore challenges associated with commercialisation of UAS. Vipul Singh, Co-Founder, AUS, talked about the gaps in our economy. He said “There is no channel in India. Coming to the Investment part, Electronic development fund policy (EDF) for Drone startups was a complete failure. Merchants have to go through long import procedures. 30% duties are imposed on Research and Development and tariffs are also imposed on imports.” Differentiating between Make in India and Made in India, he highlighted the fact that in spite of India’s fantastic test ground, no action is taken regarding aircrafts trials. There exists Research and Development infrastructure gap. “We are depending on imports for another 3 years” Singh said. “India is on the way of technological development.” On a serious conclusion note, he shared statistics highlighting India’s deficit import rate which accounts for $ 14.6 billion.

Ankit Mehta, CEO and Co-founder of IdeaForge, took the honor to end the session by discussing Laws and ways to harmonize them. Laws can be harmonized by imports and exports. He said “we have to look to the level playing field. There are 6 categories to be considered namely manufacturing, trading, imports, exports, research and development and training. Special focus should be placed on the training of all these 6 categories.” Closing his speech he said “Additional steps have to be taken or else it is a defeatist battle for us.”

The first drone was introduced in 1996. In the coming years, the demand for aero engines, commercial equipment and transistors will rise drastically. However, the import of drones in India is still prohibited.