How a century-old testing lab is helping Indian drones fly high
As India evolves into a drone production hub, a century-old industrial testing agency is helping manufacturers find their space in a competitive global market.
About 25 drone manufacturers have expressed initial interest in acquiring certificates from the National Test House. The testing laboratory, established in 1919, offers “type certification” for drone design and its parts, including propellers, engines, and control stations. The lab ensures drones meet standards for airworthiness noise, fuel venting, and exhaust emissions.
“As of now, three manufacturers have adopted NTH as their certification body for ‘type certification’ of their drone models through the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA’s) digital sky platform,” said consumer affairs secretary Nidhi Khare, who took charge on Monday.
NTH received its first drone model for certification from Gurugram-based BharatRohan Airborn Innovations on 2 April.
“One of the reasons for NTH’s popularity among manufacturers is its nominal fee structure. The apex industrial testing house charges a fee ranging from ₹1 lakh to ₹1.5 lakh for the entire certification process, depending on the size of the drone,” Khare told Mint.
This fee is the lowest in the industry, making NTH an attractive choice for manufacturers looking for affordable certification services, the secretary said.
Currently, only a few private agencies are engaged in testing these sub-parts and they charge between ₹10 lakh and ₹14 lakh for the certification.
UL India Pvt. Ltd, TQ Cert Services Pvt. Ltd, Bureau Veritas (India) Pvt. Ltd, SGS India Pvt. Ltd, and MS Certification Services Pvt. Ltd are some of the leading private agencies involved in drone certification.
Queries emailed to all, except MS Certification Services, were not answered till press time.
“The testing conducted by NTH is transparent, which is not the case with private agencies,” said a senior scientist at the agency, who did not want to be named. Besides, the agency is adopting the latest testing
technologies to match those of its private peers, the scientist added.
NTH, which has its headquarters in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, is establishing a stateof-the-art integrated test facility for drone testing, Khare said.
“The procurement of necessary test equipment is currently under way, with the facility expected to be operational within the next six months. This integrated facility will significantly reduce costs for drone manufacturers by eliminating the need for testing drone parts at multiple laboratories across the country,” she said.
Since its inception, NTH has offered scientific and quality assessment services to various nation-building projects, such as bridges, highways, airports, steel plants, refineries, power plants, and railway projects.
NTH provides services such as testing, calibration, and quality evaluation of engineering materials and finished products in various fields, including chemical, civil, mechanical, electrical, non-destructive testing, metallurgy, rubber, plastics, papers, and textile materials.
Testing by a government agency is always a welcome initiative, given that the industry is in a nascent stage, said Anoop Kumar Upadhyay, co-founder of IoTechWorld, a domestic agri-drone maker.
“It’s very necessary to ensure the quality of drones. When we have better quality, we will be able to export indigenously manufactured drones to other countries,” he added.
With the rise in commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems in sectors such as infrastructure, agriculture, entertainment, transportation, and geospatial mapping, the government has initiated several steps to promote the drone manufacturing industry.
The production-linked incentive scheme for drone makers has an outlay of ₹120 crore for three financial years.