Government has disbursed US$ 3.6 million (Rs. 30 crore) grant to 23 firms under the PLI scheme for drone manufacturing

The Civil Aviation Ministry has disbursed about US$ 3.6 million (Rs. 30 crore) to 23 beneficiaries during FY23 under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for manufacturing drones and drone parts.

On July 6, 2022, a preliminary list of 23 PLI beneficiaries was made public, which includes 11 component manufacturers and 12 drone manufacturers.

The government announced the PLI scheme for drones and drone components on September 30, 2021, which was approved with a vision towards Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

Drone promotion through companies and training at industrial training institutes (ITIs) was encouraged by the Union Budget 2022. The start-ups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through various applications and for Drone-as-a-Service (DrAAS), according to Finance Minister Ms. Nirmala Sitharaman. Additionally, the finance minister stated during the presentation of the Union Budget 2023, that the Pradhan Mantri Skill Development Mission will train lakhs of young people in the next three years in topics like drones, artificial intelligence, coding, and other soft skills under the Pradhan Mantri Kausal Vikas Yojana 4.0.

The liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, had been followed by the PLI schemes. With this incentive scheme, the drones and drone components manufacturing industry may see an investment of over US$ 605.6 million (Rs. 5,000 crore) over the next three years and the annual sales turnover of the drone manufacturing industry may grow from US$ 7.3 million (Rs. 60 crore) in 2020-21 to over US$ 109 million (Rs. 900 crore) in FY24.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.