\n<\/p>\n
Neel Mehta is the co-founder of Asteria Aerospace, which has been building drones for 10 years. He welcomes the government’s efforts to boost the sector. <\/p>\n
It has allowed his company to expand beyond building drones for the defence sector and move into new areas.<\/p>\n
“Drone companies now have a clear growth roadmap, large order books and promising future trajectory. In India, we now have drones being used in real-world, impactful large-scale applications, while being economically viable,” says Mr Mehta.<\/p>\n
Currently drones do all sorts of jobs in India. Police use them for monitoring the traffic and border security forces use them to search for smugglers and traffickers. <\/p>\n
They are also increasingly common in the farming sector, where they are used to monitor the health of crops and spray them with fertiliser and pesticides.<\/p>\n
However, despite the excitement and investment around India’s drone industry, even those in the sector advise caution.<\/p>\n
“India has set a goal of being a hub of drones by 2030, but I think we should be cautious because we at present don’t not have an ecosystem and technology initiatives in place,” says Rajiv Kumar Narang, from the Drone Federation of India.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n