The government has made a new masterplan to enhance India’s security.
New Delhi: India is now going to rapidly increase its drone manufacturing. The government has made a new masterplan to prepare an ‘army’ of drones in the country. Under this plan, an incentive programme of about Rs 2000 crores has been prepared for civil and military drone makers.
Why there is a need for drone plan?
India’s decision to make this drone came from the assessment of the four-day confrontation with Pakistan in May. In that confrontation, for the first time, India and Pakistan used unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on a large scale against each other.
In such a situation, Indian Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh had said last week that drones, loitering munitions and suicide drones were used extensively by both sides during the India-Pakistan conflict. He said, “We have learned the lesson that we have to double our indigenisation efforts to ensure the creation of a large, effective, military drone manufacturing ecosystem.”
In such a situation, the strength of the Indian Armed Forces, especially the Indian Air Force, will increase manifold. At the same time, it will give a huge edge in the battlefield.
How much will the drone incentive programme cost?
The Government of India will launch a programme of about Rs 2000 crore for this. This programme will cover the manufacturing of drones, their components, software, counter drone systems and services.
According to the report, the cost of this programme is much more than the production-linked incentive scheme of Rs 1.2 billion launched in 2021 to promote drone start-ups. Through this incentive programme, India aims to make at least 40% of the main drone components in the country by the end of the financial year 2028.
How will India benefit from this programme?
This programme is designed to reduce dependence on imported components and counter Pakistan’s drone programme, which is supported by China and Turkey. Earlier, India has been importing military drones mainly from Israel, its third-largest arms supplier.
However, in recent years its new drone industry has provided some weapons at affordable prices. Still, India’s dependence on foreign countries for some components such as motors, sensors and imaging systems still remains. Currently, there are more than 600 drone manufacturing and related companies in India.
