In line with Prime Minister Modi’s vision to turn India into a global drone hub by 2030, Pushkar Singh Dhami, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand, inaugurated the country’s largest and the state’s first drone manufacturing facility in Roorkee, owned by the Roter Group of Companies.
Terming it a step closer towards “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, Dhami said, “Drones have brought a revolution in the healthcare and farm sectors. Also, these unmanned vehicles can reach remote areas, which are inaccessible during the monsoon. Everyone is aware how drones have been supplying medicines, spraying fungicides, and have facilitated vaccination drives too.”
India’s biggest
Roter’s drone manufacturing facility is based out of the Roorkee Industrial Area and has a capacity to manufacture more than 150 drones per month, 50 specifically for Indian Army. Spread across 20,000 sq. Ft., the facility is an example of modern and traditional blend of technology, processes, and values. The unit will also house an independent training academy to train pilots in safe and efficient use of drone as well as geospatial data production.
Founded to supply survey equipment for British engineers employed in the maintenance of the Ganga canal in 1936, Roter is India’s oldest Surveying Instruments company. It has a legacy of more than 86 years, serving the private and government sector with quality instruments and solutions.
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Indigenous drone manufacturing
The inauguration event was attended by over 300 attendees from the state government of Uttarakhand, industrialists of the state, personnel affiliated with IIT Roorkee, BEG&C, eminent doctors, user organizations, members of the media, and others.
Roter’s ‘Trinity F90+’ is India’s most successful drone, which has been the founding pillar of ‘Svamitva Yojana’, the project of national importance.
Other than the Survey of India, the Trinity F90+ is also serving other elite government organisations such as Northeast Space Application Centre (NESAC), NRSC Hyderabad, Water and Power Consultancy Services Limited (WAPCOS), Government of Haryana, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Indian Army and many more.
Liberalized framework
The Drone Rules 2021 that were ushered in August last year, brought about a much more liberalized regime for dunmanned aircraft systems in India. The new policy eased the scope of owning and operating a drone in India, including reducing the number of required approvals, cleared the air as far as jurisdiction was concerned, and set up a council to facilitate a business-friendly regulatory regime.
The relaxation in guidelines for civilian drones marked a clear shift in policy by the government to allow operations of such drones and highlighted India’s resolve to allow the use of drones. It opened up new possibilities not just for startups operating in the sector but also for overall innovation in business models in drone manufacturing.
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