With the Indian government’s increasing focus on drone startups, a procurement framework for usage of unmanned aerial vehicles or drones is in the works. The focus of the framework is on the commercial purposes of drone usages.

The purpose of the framework is to enable public sector enterprises to decide whether they want to buy drones as equipment or use them as a service, Economic Times reported. 

Without a clarity on procurement, there could be impact on overall output including data collection, the report said citing a source. For the framework, the government is in discussion with relevant stakeholders.

To decide quality parameters for large scale drone use, several ministries such as road, transport and highways, railways, agriculture and panchayati raj, and NITI Aayog have held discussions with the Drones Federation of India.

“Drones are an emerging industry and the country needs a procurement framework to ensure quality output,” a senior official said as quoted in the report.

According to Smit Shah, president, Drones Federation of India, “There is a need to strike a balance between capability, cost and competitiveness for using drones on a large scale. A clear guiding principle on this will ensure that the technology provides the desired results without compromising the quality of output.”

This move comes at a time when the government is aiming to make the country the “drone hub of the world” by 2030. At the beginning of 2022, the government notified the drone certification scheme in order to spur the drone manufacturing industry in the country and make certification simpler, faster and transparent. 

As the government is increasing its focus on the sector, it is also grabbing attention of the investors. For example, drone manufacturing startup ideaForge raised $20 Mn in a Series B funding round led by private equity firm Florintree in April, while another startup Garuda Aerospace also secured an undisclosed amount in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Ocgrow Ventures in May.