Cost of training drone pilots set to reduce in coming days: Scindia

Fees for drone pilot training course will significantly decrease in the next 3-4 months as more institutes will get necessary certification from the aviation regulator, Union civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said on Tuesday.

He was virtually addressing a ‘drones for agricultural use’ session. Responding to a question on high fees for a drone pilot training course raised by a farmer from Gujarat, Rakesh Patel, Scindia said, “You said the fees of a drone pilot course is currently quite high. You should not worry at all.”

In the last five months, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has certified 23 schools for training drone pilots, he added. “As the number of schools keep increasing, the cost of training drone pilots will keep decreasing.”

At present, the fee ranges between ₹30,000 and ₹1 lakh, depending on the course.

The country needs more drone pilots and it is for this reason that their certification process has been completely decentralised, the minister said. “So, now, the DGCA will only certify drone schools, and it is the drone school concerned which will grant certificates to pilots. We have removed bureaucracy from this process,” he added.india announced an ambitious policy last year to boost drone manufacturing in the country.

Stating that it was important to look at drones from the broader perspective of air mobility vehicles, Scindia said he expected a great amount of investment in India in that space and pointed out that the government has already come out with a list of the first 14 vendors under the PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme. Earlier this month, the civil aviation ministry invited second round of applications for the PLI scheme.