India Bans Import Of Foreign Drones

The central government has banned import of foreign drones to boost domestic manufacturing.

Foreign drones can now only be imported for R&D, defence and security purposes with due clearances, according to a statement by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Import of drone components, however, will not require any approvals.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget 2022 speech, had said the government's ‘Drone Shakti’ initiative was aimed at making India a drone hub by 2030. “Startups will be promoted to facilitate Drone Shakti through varied applications and for drone-as-a-service… The courses required for drone skills will be started in select industrial training institutes in various states,” she had said.

In August last year, the government had liberalised drone rules. The number of forms required was reduced from 25 to 5. The types of fee were reduced from 72 to 4. The quantum of fee was also lowered to nominal levels and delinked with the size of drone.