New Drone Policy of India- 2018

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had announced draft regulations on civil use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, commonly known as Drones on August27, 2018. This New Drone Policy allows personal, recreational and commercial use of drones from December this year. This policy will allow the drones to fly only within the line of sight of the person flying it. The drones have been classified in five categories on the basis of their maximum take-off weight. The Nano drone will be of less than or equal to 250 gms.

Drone

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had announced draft regulations on civil use of Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems, commonly known as "Drones" on August 27, 2018. This New Drone Policy allows personal, recreational and commercial use of drones from December this year. This policy will allow the drones to fly only within the "line of sight"of the person flying it. Generally, the reach of the human eye is up to 450 meters. This limit can be removed after some time.   This new drone policy will open the way for commercial use of drones (unmanned aircraft) for works such as agriculture, health and disaster relief.

The drones have been classified in five categories on the basis of their maximum take-off weight. The Nano drone will be of less than or equal to 250 gms while the drones under the large category will be allowed to take off around 250 kg weight.

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The five categories of the drones as follows;

1). Nano       :           Less than or equal to 250 gm

2). Micro       :           Greater than 250 gm and less than or equal to 2 kg.

3). Mini         :           Greater than 2 kg and less than or equal to 25 kg.

4). Small       :           Greater than 25 kg and less than or equal to 150 kg.

5). Large      :           Greater than 150 kg

Rules for taking the license of the drone;
1.  The license holder must be 18 years old
2.  The license holder must be 10th standard pass
3.  The licensor should have knowledge of English language

Rules for flying the drones:

1. All commercial categories of drones  except those in the Nano category and those operated by government security agencies,  will have to be registered by DGCA and receive a Unique Identification Number (UIN). 

2. Dropping any substance from the drone like hazardous materials or animals or humans will not be allowed.

3. Drones up to maximum take-off weight of 2 Kgs flown below 200 feet inside educational institution premises will not require UIN/UAOP.

4. No drones will be allowed within 50 km from international border which includes Line of Actual Control (LAC), Line of Control (LoC) and Actual Ground Position Line.

5. No drones will be allowed beyond 500 m (horizontal) into sea from coast line provided the location of ground station is on fixed platform over land.

6. No drones will be allowed Within 5 km radius from Vijay Chowk in Delhi.

7. Operation of Nano and Micro drones inside covered premises in No Drone Zone may be carried out subject to permission from local police authorities.

8. No drones will be flown from mobile platforms such as a moving vehicle, aircraft and ship.

9. Draft proposal on drone says that drone pilots need to get the necessary training to fly drone of all categories except nano and micro-categories.

10.The private drone will be operated only in the day and can fly only upto 200 feet horizontal.

11.The drones of all categories need to be registered with the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and get Unique Identification Number (UIN) except first two categories (250 grams and 2 kg). Exemptions have been given to the first two categories because they are used by children to play and research scholars for practical.

Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha said that the trial is underway. On successful completion of this, in the second review meeting of drone policy; we will think to allow delivery of food items through drones. It means in the coming months you will get Pizza and Burger from drones after sitting at home.

Drone Market and its future;

India is ready to become a large market of unmanned aircraft i.e. drone. The drone sale has increased by at least 40% since the inception of this New Drone Policy. People associated with this business say that there is a huge demand of drones from event management companies, survey agencies and railways.   The drones of Nano and small categories are in huge demand because they can be availed without license and mostly used by the research scholars and kids. The price of a small drone is around 2 lac rupees.

Union Minister for Civil Aviation Suresh Prabhu said that New Drone Policy will boost up the "Made in India" campaign and it is expected that very soon the drone market will touch the height of one trillion dollars.

In the concluding remarks it can be said that this New Drone Policy will promote the country’s Pharmaceuticals sector because the transportation of the human organs will be easy. In addition to this the drones will improve the security check up in the border areas which will further enhance the security of the country as a whole.