New Drone Policy Announced; All You Need To Know

New Delhi: The Centre has announced the new Drone Rules-2021 which reduced the Yellow Zone from 45 kilometres to 12 kilometres from the airport perimeter.

Here are the following Drone Rules- 2021

1. Under new rules, the number of forms required was reduced from 25 to 5. And types of fees levied were reduced from 72 to 4.
2. The quantum of the fee was reduced to nominal levels and delinked with the size of the drone. For instance, the fee for a remote pilot license fee has been reduced from Rs 3000 (for large drones) to Rs 100 for all categories of drones; and is valid for 10 years.
3. A Digital sky platform shall be developed as a user-friendly single-window system. There will be minimal human interface and most permission will be self-generated. An interactive airspace map with green, yellow and red zones shall be displayed on the digital sky platform within 30 days of publication of these rules, said MoCA.
4. No permission is required for operating drones in green zones. Green zone means the airspace upto a vertical distance of 400 feet or 120 metre that has not been designated as a ‘red zone’ or ‘yellow zone’ in the airspace map; and the airspace upto a vertical distance of 200 feet or 60 metre above the area located between a lateral distance of 8 and 12 kilometres from the perimeter of an operational airport. The yellow zone was reduced from 45 km to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
5. No restriction on foreign ownership in Indian drone companies. Import of drones to be regulated by DGFT. The requirement of import clearance from DGCA has been abolished. However, DGCA shall prescribe drone training requirements, oversee drone schools and provide pilot licences online. The remote pilot licence will be issued by DGCA within 15 days of the pilot receiving the remote pilot certificate from the authorised drone school through the digital sky platform.
6. Type certificate required only when a drone is to be operated in India. However, Importing and manufacturing drones purely for exports are exempt from type certification and unique identification numbers. Nano and model drones (made for research or recreation purposes) are also exempt from type certification.