The permission allows drone deployment for remote sensing data collection in agricultural areas of 100 districts of the country under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has granted conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoAFW), Government of India. The permission allows drone deployment by the MoAFW for remote sensing data collection in agricultural areas of 100 districts of the country, for Gram Panchayat level yield estimation, under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).
The exemption shall be valid from the one year from the date of issue of the permission letter or until the operationalisation of the Digital Sky Platform, whichever is earlier. However, this exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations are strictly adhered to. In case of violation of any condition, this exemption shall become null & void and action may be initiated as per Para 18 of the above mentioned CAR.
The conditional exemption will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the permission letter or until the operationalisation of the Digital Sky Platform, whichever is earlier, the statement by the civil aviation ministry said.
This exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations are strictly adhered to, it said.
While conditional exemption has been given to MoAFW, it still needs to obtain necessary clearances from the local administration, the defence ministry, home ministry, Indian Air Force and Airports Authority of India, the statement added.
