New Delhi: A total of 1,338 drones have been registered in the state of Gujarat till January 29, 2025, said the union government recently.

In a reply to a question in Rajya Sabha during the ongoing budget session of Parliament, the Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, stated the following:

(a) As on 29th January 2025, total number of Unique Identification Number (UIN) issued from Digital Sky Platform is 29501. The State – wise list of registered drones including the registered drones from State of Maharashtra may be seen at Annexure. Till date, Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) authorised Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTOs) have issued 22466 Remote Pilot Certificates (RPCs).

(b) Central Government has taken the following steps to increase the usage of drone technology across various sectors:-:

i. Notified the liberalized Drone Rules, 2021 on 25th August 2021.

ii. Notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, to promote manufacturing of drones and drone components in India

iii. Published the Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft, 2022 to establish a global certification and accreditation framework for drones that would scale, with appropriate safeguards, the commercial application of various drone technologies.

iv. Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2024 has been notified on 21st August, 2024, eliminating the mandatory requirement of passport in form D-2 and D-3 for the registration and de-registration/transfer of drone. Now, a government issued proof of identity and a government issued proof of address i.e. Voter ID, Ration Card or Driving License can now be accepted for registration and de-registration or transfer of drones.

v. No permission is required in green zones. Permission of concerned Air Traffic Control (ATC) is required for operating drones in yellow zone. Permission of Ministry of Civil Aviation and the concerned red zone owners would be required for operating drones in red zone.

vi. Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has issued a total of 96 Type Certificates to different Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) models on the basis of their purpose. Out of these, 65 models are agriculture based and remaining 31 models are Logistics and Surveillance based.

(c) Ministry of Civil Aviation has notified the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme on 30th September 2021, with a total incentive of Rs 120 crores spread over three Financial Years (FYs) to promote manufacturing of drones and drone components in India. Till date, an amount of approximately Rs 29.43 crores, Rs 28.76 crores and Rs 3.63 crores have been disbursed during FY 2022-23, FY 2023-24 and Current FY respectively, as an incentive under the scheme.

ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE IN REPLY TO RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 646 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 10.02.2025

LIST OF DRONES REGISTERED STATE-WISE/UT-WISE

Source: Directorate General of Civil Aviation