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Over 29,500 drones registered across India, Delhi leads with 4,882

The drone delivery service is expected to kickstart in Saudi Arabia later this year after a US company has become the first such operator to obtain an official approval to deliver the service in the kingdom. Matternet, a California-based developer of commercial drone delivery systems for urban and suburban environments, said the company has been approved by Saudi authorities to operate its M2 drone there, becoming the first operator to receive such approval. The data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) updated till January 29 showed that there were 29,501 registered drones.

Each registered drone is issued a Unique Identification Number (UIN) from the Digital Sky Platform, which is operated by the DGCA. DGCA-authorised Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTOs) have issued 22,466 Remote Pilot Certificates (RPCs).

Sharing the data as part of a written reply, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Murlidhar Mohol also said the central government has taken various steps to increase the usage of drone technology across various sectors. Among other measures, the ministry amended norms in August last year whereby the requirement of passport for the registration and de-registration/transfer of a drone was scrapped.

Since then, voter ID, ration card or driving licence can be used for registration and de-registration or transfer of drones. There is a drone airspace map, which is divided into three zones — green, yellow and red.

There is no need for prior permission to operate drones in the green zone while the Air Traffic Control (ATC) concerned has to approve operations of drones in the yellow zone.

For flying drones in the red zone, permission has to be granted by the central government.

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