India's drone industry set to boom; caution required: experts

13 Jun 2022 , 10:56 AM

Experts predict that India’s drone sector will play an increasingly important role in public services such as defense, agriculture, healthcare, and infrastructure maintenance in the future, despite some worries about the safety and privacy of these unmanned aerial vehicles.

Drones are small pilotless aircraft that may be controlled remotely using basic equipment such as a smartphone app.

These unmanned vehicles need significantly less work, time, and energy to operate, and can travel over long distances and through tough terrains while being controlled remotely by a single person. Drone technology is gaining popularity and adoption across geographies and industries, and India is no exception.

India will require around one lakh drone pilots in the coming years, according to Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia. Drone technology is gaining popularity and adoption across geographies and industries, and India is no exception.

India’s largest drone festival was recently held in the national capital to highlight the potential of the domestic drone sector. Over 1,600 delegates attended the Bharat Drone Mahotsav, a two-day event held in the capital on May 27 and 28, comprising government officials, foreign embassies, PSUs, private firms, and drone startups, among others.

The firms displayed unmanned vehicles that are ready for use in industries such as defense, agriculture, and survey mapping, as well as prospective cutting-edge concepts that would see drones carrying patients in crises and delivering goods and supplies on a large scale. Theta Enerlytics, a drone manufacturer based in New Delhi, and Vega Aviation Products displayed their endurance and hard-body drones during the festival.

The major concerns shared by experts are related to privacy, secret monitoring or surveillance, and drone crashes. These are just a few of the issues that could obstruct their widespread use, according to them.