The Union government has unveiled new provisions for Namo Drone Didi, a programme that aims to modernise farming with the use of unmanned ariel vehicles, offering up to 80% of a drone’s cost to women-led rural enterprises, which includes pilot training as well, two officials said. The initiative has an outlay of ?1261 crore.

According to the revamped guidelines, the programme will fund over 14,000 eligible women-run self-help groups across the country during FY 2025-26. The subsidy will be subject to a price of ?8 lakhs per drone, which usually costs at least ?10 lakh apiece, according to the guidelines which came into force this week.

The package includes drone with fitments such as downward cameras, mounted fertiliser sprayers, four sets of extra batteries, chargers and drone-flying training for these enterprises, which will then offer drone services on a per-hour hire basis to farmers.

The Indian drone industry is estimated to grow from approximately ?60 crore in 2020-21 to nearly ?900 crore by 2024-25, according to data from the civil aviation ministry data. The Namo Drone Didi programme for agricultural operations will be helmed by a group of secretaries, including those from agriculture, rural development and civil aviation ministries, one official said. From healthcare to agriculture, the use of drones is expanding rapidly with both state-run agencies and private firms rolling out a wide range of applications and services, some to boost last-mile delivery in hard-to-reach areas.

According to a 2023 study by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, farming operations such as aerial spraying of crop nutrients and pesticides can increase efficiency of crop inputs by up to 40% on a per hectare basis in lands with irrigation access. At one end of the spectrum, drones have entered people’s lives, transforming private occasions. It’s becoming common to organise aerial photo shoots at weddings, for instance. The other end is witnessing sophisticated applications like delivery of vaccines in rural areas. Police departments routinely scan their jurisdictions from the sky for law-and-order surveillance.To be sure, there are issues to sort out -- from quality of drones, battery efficiencies, to pricing for commercial services. “These are critical to achieving the scale needed to make India a global drone hub by 2030, as envisioned by the government,” said Varun Negi, the proprietor of Gagan Agritech Services. The implementation of the scheme will be done by a committee headed by an additional secretary of the rural development department, a second official said.

Source: Hindustan Times