A first: Gurugram company gets 'type certificate', can export drones

Shubhadeep Choudhury

New Delhi, June 14

The drone manufacturing industry got a shot in the arm on Tuesday with Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia handing out the country’s first Type Certificate (TC) under Drone Rules, 2021, to “agribot” (agricultural drone) manufacturer IoTechworld Avigation Private Ltd.

‘Agribot’

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15 kg Weight

Rs 8 lakh Price

10 kg Payload

20 minutes flight time

• Can be used for spraying fertiliser and pesticides
• Can also scan and pinpoint an area where treatment is required, paving way for precision farming

Deepak Bhardwaj and Anup Kumar Upadhyay, co-founders of the firm, said the certification would enable their product to compete in the international arena, besides having enhanced visibility in the domestic market.

The company has provisional clearance and about 200 drones manufactured by it at its unit in Gurugram are already available in the market.

“Now, we will launch 1,000 more drones and will also explore export opportunities as our product has been found as good as any sold in the global market. Farmers, agri-entrepreneurs and micro-entrepreneurs are our potential clientele,” they said.

Scindia said while a 75-day deadline had been officially set for taking a call regarding giving clearance to a prototype, the privately manufactured drone given final certificate today got it only in 34 days after submission of application by the company.