Drone industry awaits DGCA guidelines

Ban Sheru, Bangalore.

Almost 18 months after the UAV market projected dreams of pizza and courier being delivered to you by drones, the industry is now in a limbo.

Post-October, with no clear-cut guidelines, the business that was in full swing has come to a stand-still. The recently held Aero India 2015 witnessed fewer stalls by private companies manufacturing drones as compared to last year.

Only the state-owned aerospace and defence companies like Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Defence Research & Development Organisation (DRDO) were there, besides Boeing and Israel Aerospace Industry (IAI). Boeing is looking at deploying UAVs with 24-hour endurance but India is yet to kick-start its mission even with minor projects in the civilian sector.

The poor showing at the air show was an indication of the Indian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) industry lacking lustre. Many start-ups are waiting for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to come up with guidelines to resume business. In October 2014, DGCA decided to ban drones from the national airspace until the rules were formulated. Nihar Varthak, co-founder and director, Asterial Aerospace, one of the start-ups and Bengaluru-based UAV designers said, "We started three years ago when the UAV market was booming; but after October, there was a sudden ban which hit the mushrooming of the industry. The DGCA keeps saying they will come up with fresh guidelines on the operations of the industry. We hope it happens within six months so we have clarity about our operations."

Globally, the mini-UAV market is expected to reach $ 1.9 billion by 2020. But grappling with multiple problems would be a serious challenge for private players. Over the last year, there have been so many regulations in the industry that operators find themselves at the receiving end.

The DGCA decided to tighten the rules and declared that they can be used only by the Ministry of Defence. Many were forced to shut shop.
In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration assigned the responsibility to the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), which regulates the industry. They limit the civil usage to areas like agricultural land and in non-populated areas. The industry insiders here feel a similar model could be replicated. They are trying to set up AUVSI's India Chapter.