According to Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the drone service sector holds tremendous promise and will provide approximately one lakh jobs over the next four to five years.
“We enacted a productivity-linked scheme for the drone sector, under which a nascent industry of drone manufacturing – with total revenue of Rs 60 crore – was given an incentive of Rs 120 crore over the next three years,” the minister said during a speech at an event hosted by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC). The incentive for a maker of drones and drone components under the PLI plan, which was announced last year, will be 20% of the value addition achieved by the company over the next three years.
The annual sales revenue from drones and drone components (net of GST) is subtracted from the acquisition cost of drones and drone components (net of GST). The names of 14 drone firms that have been chosen as PLI beneficiaries have been revealed by the ministry.
“We see a quick expansion of over Rs 5,000 crore in terms of investment into the drone manufacturing industry,” Scindia said on Friday. “Over the next four to five years, the drone service sector is expected to generate 1,00,000 jobs. It’s a region with a lot of potentials “he continued.
India is undergoing rapid urbanisation
India is rapidly urbanising, with cities accounting for 75% of national income by 2031, he said, adding that transportation and logistics will be critical in determining India’s fate in the following decade.
According to him, the country now has around 140 airports, with the government planning to double that number in the next four to five years. He stated that the country’s commercial fleet will grow from 710 planes now to 1,200 planes in the next five years.
He also stated that the government intends to swiftly expand its flight training organisations, which will grow from 34 to 58 in the next few years. India’s global airplane component sector is growing at a breakneck pace.
Boeing is currently importing aircraft components worth USD 1 billion (one billion =10,000 lakhs) from India, while Airbus is importing aircraft components worth approximately USD 650 million from India.
