New Delhi (NVI): India’s drone and the counter-drone cumulative market potential is estimated at Rs 3,00,000 crore up to 2030, a senior member from FICCI committee on drones said today.
“India’s drone & counter-drone market potential up to 2030 is cumulatively estimated to be around INR 300,000 crore (approx. US$ 40 billion) with Defence and Homeland Security accounting for 50 per cent of it,” said Rajan Luthra, Chair – FICCI Committee on Drones.
Luthra said that India’s drone sector has a promising future. “The importance of the drone sector is getting realised on a daily basis in terms of how new opportunities are shaping up and many key developments are taking place at an increasingly rapid pace,” he said.
Luthra further said that in line with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s saddress at the inaugural session of Aero India 2021, the ‘sangam’ (confluence) of rising demand for drones and counter drones, innovation due to a large number of start-ups, enabling conducive policies and maturing ecosystems, will make India the drone hub of the world.
FICCI has been supporting the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in preparing a vision and action plan blueprint for the Drone sector with guidance from the SCALE committee setup by DPIIT and with support of EY as Knowledge Partner, Luthra further added.
FICCI has been supporting the Ministry of Commerce & Industry in preparing a vision and action plan blueprint for the Drone sector with guidance from the SCALE committee setup by DPIIT and with support of EY as Knowledge Partner, Luthra added.
Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, said that the vision is for us (India) to be the drone hub of the world. “Atmanirbhar Bharat is no more a slogan. However, bulk of the drone components require scale and right now the market in India is too small to give that scale. Volumes will only come through enabling DSR (Demand, Supply, Regulations),” he said.
Addressing the FICCI Session on Drones & Counter-Drone Opportunities in Defence and Homeland Security at Aero India, Mr Dubey said that drones are the future of armed conflicts and the impact has been witnessed by all in recent times. Lauding the start-up ecosystem in the drones’ sector, he said that the very people who today are delivering agri drones and mining drones will also give us military drones.
Dubey said that the draft Drone Rules are already in the final stages of discussion with the law ministry. “Hopefully by 31 March we should come up with the drone rules,” he said.
On quality, Dubey noted that the DGCA has appointed QCI (Quality Council of India) to look at the quality certification and approvals process. The QCI, in turn, has a run a collaborative process and come up with a guidance manual. “Quality is paramount and that is why we have outsourced it to parties that have more knowledge. This is the kind of PPP that we are looking at,” he noted.
Rakesh Asthana, Director General, Border Security Force said that while there were 167 recorded sighting of drones in the Western Front in 2019, there were 77 sightings in the last year. “There have been instances of dropping off arms & ammunition as well as narcotics through drones, particularly in the Punjab and the Jammu sector,” he said.
“The drone technology is being effectively used for not only smuggling activities but also for surveillance purposes by anti-national elements and non-state actors that are also seeking to augment their counter drone capabilities having interception, direction finding, and jamming capabilities. If these are not addressed appropriately and effectively, it will pose a daunting challenge for us in times to come,” Asthana said.
The use of drones for anti-Naxal operations is also very important. As far as BSF is concerned, we are using the drone technology for surveillance purposes, countering rogue drones sent in by our not so friendly neighbouring nations, he added.
Asthana further informed that the government has already authorised a considerable number of micro and small drones and in the times to come this number is expected to increase manifold. “Many anti-drone systems have also been approved by the MHA and we are in the process of finalising the equipment suited to our requirements,” he said.
BSF is equipping itself with futuristic technology, especially in drones and the system to counter rogue drones at the border. There are specific parameters that we are working on and in the near future we are going to acquire a sizeable number of drones to enhance our capabilities so far as border guarding is concerned, Asthana noted.
Brig ZIS Yazdani SM, VSM, Brig Army Design Bureau, Indian Army said the Army Design Bureau facilitates the industry, academia, DRDO’s, DPSU’s participation towards resolving the problems that the army is facing.
“Our country has a land border of 15,000 kms and a coastline of 75,000 kms. The armed forces need to carry out surveillance and operations; need to target enemy camps and technology is needed to take it forward. Hence, the demand for drone surveillance in the country is huge,” he said. Brig Yazdani pointed out that there is a requirement for surveillance in high altitude area.
Further, on the contribution of start-ups in the Drones sector, Brig Yazdani said, “Start-ups in this field have beaten large industries, not on cost but on technology in meeting user requirements,” he said.
-ARK
