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The production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for drones will not only boost domestic manufacturing of drone and drone components but also bring in new use cases and applications across various sectors, industry experts said. The Union government on Wednesday had approved a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years. Paras Jain, founder, and Chief Executive Officer of Indo Wings said the approval of the PLI scheme for drones will bring tremendous benefits for all the sectors of the economy. "...this would open many more verticals for the utilisation of drones...It was encouraging to see the government's consideration of startups in the drone ecosystem due to which they have kept the revenue requirement of only Rs 2 crore for MSMEs ( Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises) to avail PLIs," he said. The Centre has kept the eligibility norm for MSME and startups in terms of annual sales turnover at a nominal level -- Rs 2 .
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has eased the rules regarding drone operations in the country by reducing the number of forms that need to be filled to operate them from 25 to 5 and the decreasing the types of fees charged from the operator from 72 to 4. The Drone Rules, 2021, were issued on Wednesday. They supersede the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, which had come into force on March 12 this year. The fee, according to the new rules, has been reduced to nominal levels and de-linked from the size of the drone. For example, the fee for a remote pilot license has been reduced for Rs 3,000 (for a large drone) to Rs 100 for all categories of drones and it is valid for 10 years. The rules have also abolished the requirement of various approvals, including certificate of conformance, certificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of existing drones, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisation and student remote pilot licence. Other approvals such as unique