The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Hyderabad, Telangana for the deployment of drones for agricultural research activities.

 

Amber Dubey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation said, “Drones are poised to play a big role in the agriculture sector in India especially in areas like precision agriculture, locust control and improvement in crop yield. The Government is encouraging young entrepreneurs and researchers to look at ruggedized low-cost drone solutions for the over 6.6 lakh villages in India.”

 

The conditional exemption is valid for 6 months from the date of issue of the letter or until the full operationalization of Digital Sky Platform (Phase-1) whichever is earlier. This exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations as stated below are strictly adhered to. In case of violation of any condition, this exemption shall become null and void. 

 

ICRISAT shall obtain necessary clearances from local administration; Ministry of Defence; Ministry of Home Affairs; Air Defence clearance from Indian Air Force and Airport Authority of India (AAI) prior to operation of Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS). ICRISAT shall only operate the RPAS which has been voluntarily disclosed to Government of India and issued with a valid Drone Acknowledgement Number (DAN). 

 

ICRISAT shall take necessary permission regarding aerial photography from Directorate of Regulations & Information, DGCA. The photographs/videographs, if taken through RPAS shall be used by ICRISAT only. ICRISAT shall be responsible for security of RPAS and data collected through RPAS. The operation of RPAS shall be restricted to day operations (from sunrise to sunset) and within Visual Line Of Sight (VLOS).