Scindia bullish on growth in the drone industry
NEW DELHI: The Indian drone industry will have a total turnover of up to ₹15,000 crore by 2026 as the government has given a major boost to the sector with the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme announced on Wednesday and liberalised rules implemented last month, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Thursday.
The PLI scheme comes as a follow-through of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, released by the Centre on August 25.
In the press briefing, Scindia said on Thursday, “With Drone Policy (Rules) and Drone PLI scheme, we have an aim that drone manufacturing companies in India should reach a turnover of ₹900 crore in the coming three years.” Currently, Indian drone manufacturing companies have a turnover of approximately ₹80 crore, he mentioned.
He said the three parts of the entire value chain in the drone sector are hardware (drone manufacturer), software and service delivery.
“If you combine turnover of all three parts of the drone sector, it is our estimate that by 2026, it will stand at $1.8 billion. This means that this industry will have a turnover of approximately ₹12,000-₹15,000 crore by then,” he stated.
Under the PLI scheme, the incentive for a manufacturer of drones and drone components will be 20% of the value addition made by the company during the next three years.
The value addition should be calculated as the annual sales revenue from drones and drone components (net of GST) minus the purchase cost (net of GST) of drone and drone components, the statement from the ministry stated.
The Union government on Wednesday approved a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of ₹120 crore spread over three financial years, the civil aviation ministry said.
The PLI for drones comes even as the civil aviation ministry is working with states to create air space maps. A person familiar with the matter said that these could be unveiled as soon as a fortnight from now and that older definitions of so-called red zones where drones can’t fly, have been significantly shrunk.
“The incentive for a manufacturer of drones and drone components shall be as high as 20% of the value addition made by her,” the ministry’s statement noted.