MoCA released the second beneficiaries list under the Drone PLI scheme

After the successful Drone Festival of India held towards the end of May 2022, the Government is continuing to enhance opportunities for the drone industry to make the country a drone hub by 2030. The Drone Fest was a culmination of all stakeholders and showcased Indian drone industry’s prowess, the vast future possibilities and the enthusiastic support from the administration which seems to be on an optimistic continuation. In line with that, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) released the second provisional list of 23 beneficiaries under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drone and drone components on July 6, 2022. These include 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers. The Ministry had invited applications from eligible manufacturers in May.

The combined annual sales turnover of the mentioned companies has increased from 88 crore in FY 2020-21 to 319 crore (unaudited) in FY 2021-22.

The provisional list of PLI beneficiaries has been prepared on the basis of the unaudited financial results for 2021-22 and other information, informed the Ministry. It further added that the shortlisted beneficiaries have crossed the eligibility criteria related to sales revenue and value addition in FY 2021-22. The combined annual sales turnover of the mentioned companies has increased from 88 crore in FY 2020-21 to 319 crore (unaudited) in FY 2021-22. The eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme for drones and drone components includes an annual sales turnover of 2 crore for drone companies and 50 lacs for drone components manufacturers; and value addition of over 40 per cent of sales turnover.

The shortlisted drone manufacturers are:

• Aarav Unmanned Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Asteria Aerospace, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• EndureAir Systems, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
• Garuda Aerospace, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Ideaforge Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• IoTechWorld Avigation, Gurugram, Haryana
• Omnipresent Robot Technologies, Gurugram, Haryana
• Raphe Mphibr, Noida, Uttar Pradesh
• Roter Precision Instruments, Roorkee, Uttarakhand
• Sagar Defence Engineering, Pune, Maharashtra
• Throttle Aerospace Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was notified on 30th September 2021.

The list of shortlisted drone component manufacturers is as follows:

• Absolute Composites, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, Hyderabad, Telangana
• Adroitec Information Systems, New Delhi
• Alpha Design Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Dynamake Engineering, Hyderabad, Telangana
• Imaginarium Rapid, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• SASMOS HET Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Servocontrols Aerospace India, Belagavi, Karnataka
• Valdel Advanced Technologies, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• ZMotion Autonomous Systems, Bengaluru, Karnataka
• Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

Apart from the PLI Scheme, Government of India has carried series of reforms to make India a global drone hub by 2030. These include notification of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021; publishing of Drone Airspace Map 2021 which opens nearly 90 per cent of Indian airspace as a green zone upto 400 feet, UAS Traffic Management (UTM) policy framework 2021; Drone Certification Scheme 2022 which makes it easier for drone manufacturers to obtain a type certificate; Drone Import Policy, 2022 which bans import of foreign-made drones; and the Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2022 which abolishes the requirement of a drone pilot licence for drone operations.

The PLI rate is constant at 20 per cent for all three years while the minimum value addition is specified as 40 per cent of net sales.

MoCA had released the first provisional list of 14 beneficiaries under the PLI Scheme for drones and drone components in April 2022. These included five drone manufacturers and nine drone component manufacturers. The provisional list of PLI beneficiaries had been prepared on the basis of the financial data submitted by applicants for the ten-month period – April 2021 till January 2022. The shortlisted beneficiaries had crossed the eligibility criteria related to sales revenue and value addition in the ten-month period itself.

The shortlisted drone manufacturers in the first list were as follows:

• Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
• Ideaforge Technology, Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Io TechWorld Avigation, Gurugram, Haryana
• Omnipresent Robot Technologies, Gurguram, Haryana
• Raphe Mphibr, Noida, Uttar Pradesh

The list of shortlisted drone components manufacturers was as follows:

• Absolute Composites, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, Hyderabad, Telangana
• Adroitec Information Systems, New Delhi
• Alpha Design Technologies, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Inventgrid India, Sambalpur. Odisha
• Paras Aerospace, Bangalore, Karnataka
• SASMOS HET Technologies, Bangalore, Karnataka
• ZMotion Autonomous Systems, Bangalore, Karnataka
• Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies, Chennai, Tamil Nadu

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components was notified on September 30, 2021. Under the PLI Scheme, an incentive of 120 crore has been provided for Indian manufacturers of drone and drone components on the basis of their value addition in India, calculated as the annual sales revenue from drones and drone components (net of GST) minus the purchase cost (net of GST) of drone and drone components. The incentive is spread over three financial years commencing from 2021-22.

PLI for a beneficiary is capped at 25 per cent of the total annual outlay to allow widening of the number of beneficiaries.

The PLI that can be claimed by a manufacturer is 20 per cent of the value addition by such manufacturer. The PLI rate is constant at 20 per cent for all three years while the minimum value addition is specified as 40 per cent of net sales. A unique feature of drone PLI scheme is that the manufacturers who fail to meet the value addition threshold in 2021-22 will be allowed to claim the lost incentive in the subsequent year if they make up the shortfall in 2022-23.

PLI for a beneficiary is capped at 25 per cent of the total annual outlay to allow widening of the number of beneficiaries.

The incentive under the PLI scheme is applicable only on domestic value addition and encourages manufacturers to reduce imports and go for higher capacity building and value addition in the sector.