Srinagar, Aug 26: As the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released Drone Rules (DR) 2021 to make India a global drone hub by 2030, there is immense optimism in the country today that the new rules would benefit all stakeholders in the industry, and reduce their compliance burden. There is optimism in J&K too that the ban imposed on drone usage in Srinagar, J&K’s commercial hub, would be reconsidered now.
Officially, drone usage in banned in Srinagar, Baramulla, Rajouri, Ramban, Kathua and Samba districts.
Under the new rules, several approval requirements have been abolished, including the need for unique authorisation number, unique prototype identification number, certificate of manufacturing and airworthiness, import clearance, student remote pilot licence, among others.
Not only the types of fees have been brought down (from 72 to 4), the quantum has also been slashed. For instance, the remote pilot licence fee has been cut from Rs 3,000 (for large drones) to Rs 100 for all categories of drones.
Uncertainty in J&K
However, despite these progressive moves, J&K’s entertainment, agriculture and e-commerce business stakeholders remain uncertain about the applicability of the new rules in J&K.
Two months ago, Government authorities in Srinagar and other five districts banned the storage, sale, possession, use and transport of drones and similar kind of unmanned aerial vehicles within the territorial jurisdiction of these districts.
In an order district magistrate of Srinagar, Mohammad Aijaz, asked the authorities to secure aerial space near vital installations and highly populated areas. To do that it is imperative to discontinue the use of drones in all social and cultural gatherings, the order said.
Both private and public sector entities with planned projects in this area are reluctant to start their projects outside Srinagar.
“This development came as a bad news to the agriculture sector in Kashmir which had several projects in the pipeline for the use of drones in various agricultural and horticultural activities, mainly in spraying of pesticides and fungicides”, Farhan Nabi, an agri drone startup co-owner told Ziraat Times.
A few projects that were also considering the use of drones in highlands of Kashmir for pest management and control remain in limbo too. As of now, it is unclear whether the drone ban extends to the agricultural sector.
The June government ban order, issued under Section 144 of CrPC, reads that the decentralized airspace access has to be regulated in view of recent episodes of misuse of drones, which are posing a threat to security infrastructure as reported by the media and other reliable sources.
“Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has provided draft guidelines/SOP to regulate the use of drones in terms of weight classification, generation of Unique Identification Number, height/ altitude restrictions, speed restriction, enforcement/panel action etc,” the earlier order reads.
“Keeping in view the security situation, apart from concerns of breach of privacy, nuisance and trespass, it is extremely dangerous to let unmanned aerial vehicles to wander around in the skies within the territorial jurisdiction of Srinagar district,” the Srinagar Administration order read.
Would the new Drone Rules 2021 create a space for opportunity?
The new rules have classified drones and unmanned aircraft in five categories. The first is for drones and similar unmanned aircraft of less than or equal to 250 grams as Nano unmanned aircraft system. The weight mark of more than 250 grams but less than 2kg is classified as Micro unmanned aircraft system. The weight between 2kg and up to 25kg has been classified as Small unmanned aircraft system. The weight between 25kg and less than 150kg is classified as Medium unmanned aircraft system. And for the heavier aircrafts and drone above 150 kgs, those will be classified as Large unmanned aircraft system.
The Drone Rules 2021 also state that unmanned aircraft system shall be categorized in three categories only—aircraft, rotorcraft, and hybrid unmanned aircraft system. There will be three further sub-categories—remotely piloted aircraft system, model remotely piloted aircraft system, and autonomous unmanned aircraft system.
“No person shall operate an unmanned aircraft system in India unless such unmanned aircraft system conforms to a type certificate or is exempted from the requirement of a type certificate under these rules,” say The Drone Rules 2021.
Also, all imports of unmanned aircraft systems shall be regulated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade or any other entity authorised by the Central Government.
“This clear categorization in the new rules can help in specifying ban on such drones which might be a security threat. Given there are other categories which can be safely used for agriculture and entertainment sectors, there is clearly a window of opportunity”, Mr Farhan observed.
The new rules also define ownership for private and commercial drones in India, drone usage and approvals, weight classifications, registration of existing drones, zonal restrictions and airspace maps, remote pilot licenses as well as training organization as well as a push for Made in India technologies, designs, components, and unmanned aircraft systems as well as Indian regional navigation satellite systems. Within the new rules, drones have been clearly classified by weight and payload capabilities.
