Naidu vows to promote drone industry, transform AP into drone hub

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Tuesday promised that he will be the best ambassador for the drone industry to promote its ecosystem and transform the state into a drone hub.

The chief minister called on drone players to use the southern state as a pilot or testing ground for producing use cases and proof of concepts.

"Andhra Pradesh will be a testing bed for drone applications. Give us your use cases and we will test them," said Naidu, addressing a two-day national drone summit at Mangalagiri in Guntur district.

The chief minister inaugurated the summit accompanied by Union Minister Ram Mohan Naidu.

Naidu noted that the state government is keen on adopting at least 150 drone use cases during the two-day summit on October 22 and 23.

Calling on drone ecosystem players, the CM requested them to put their data and use cases in a sandbox for further validation and enhancement.

Highlighting that the drone industry is the "game changer" of the future, he said these unmanned aerial vehicles have multiple use cases, such as identifying traffic violations, criminals and in farming, among several others.

The TDP supremo observed that the state government aims to hand over 20,000 drone pilot certificates and achieve 80 per cent indigenisation in drone manufacturing.

Promising to allot 300 acres to the Civil Aviation Ministry, Government of India, Naidu requested the Centre to set up a drone certification hub at Orvakal in Kurnool district, which is near to Hyderabad, Chennai and Amaravati.

Further, the CM appealed to drone players to keep their costs reasonable and refrain from being "greedy" to enable wider adoption of this technology.

On the occasion, the Andhra Pradesh government inked an agreement with the Quality Council of India (QCI) for certifying drone startups in the state.

There was also an agreement between IIT-Tirupati and Technology Innovative Hub for collaboration in drone technology development, startups and skill initiatives.

Later, Naidu released a concept note on drone policy and also inaugurated a drone expo at the venue.

Earlier, Union Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu said that the government does not want to import drones as it envisages the people of the country to manufacture them.

The aviation minister highlighted that the Centre has liberalised rules for the drone ecosystem and enabled 27 companies to benefit from the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

Noting that India has emerged as a drone hub in the past few years, the union minister said the government wants to push the industry further.

"Looking at a drone hub in Andhra Pradesh in the future... want to ensure that Andhra Pradesh grows to the best of its ability," he said, adding that the government wants to ensure that the southern state will emerge as the drone hub of the world.

The mega-drone summit will feature drone hackathons, exhibitions and participation from industry experts.

As many as 1,711 delegates and 1,306 visitors are expected to attend the summit.

Likewise, over 8,000 people are also expected to attend the summit, which will be followed by a drone show at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on Tuesday evening.

Inputs from PTI