Telangana has head start in using drones for solving societal problems

Hyderabad: Telangana has head start in terms of using drones for solving societal problems. The State is already deploying drones for reaching out medical emergencies in remote places. A pilot project to transport vaccines and blood using drones is already successfully conducted in the State. It is now gearing up to formally launch the service […]

Hyderabad: Telangana has head start in terms of using drones for solving societal problems. The State is already deploying drones for reaching out medical emergencies in remote places. A pilot project to transport vaccines and blood using drones is already successfully conducted in the State. It is now gearing up to formally launch the service in select districts.

This apart, drones have also been used in agriculture to spray pesticides and to drop the seed balls under the flagship afforestation programme ‘Harita Haram’. Telangana is also ahead of the curve and has already launched a sector specific drone policy to nurture an ecosystem.

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Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Budget presented today said efforts will be made to use drones for crop assessment, digitisation of land records, spraying of insecticides, and nutrients.

Startups will be promoted to facilitate ‘Drone Shakti’ through varied applications and for Drone-As-A-Service (DrAAS). Drones are identified as one of the sunrise sectors that have potential to assist sustainable development at scale, she said.

The Government of Telangana understood the potential of drone industry long time ago. It also decided to play the role of catalyst in developing the drone ecosystem to flourish in the State. The State has envisioned creating a vibrant drone ecosystem through robust infrastructure, research and development, and market access.

The State’s Drone Policy aims to strike a balance between drone usage and regulations that ultimately result in the increase of economic activity due to usage of drones for greater public good. Telangana also realised that to transform from an emerging area into a mature industry, drone manufacturers and service providers require significant infrastructure support to develop and test their products/solutions.

The Government had planned to establish a Telangana Drone City (TDC) that would become India’s leading Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) test and business center. This TDC will foster a drone ecosystem and will enable sharing of resources, best practices and promote innovation. The facility will include all the basic requirements like air strip for takeoff and landing, ground control station, mechanical and electrical lab, hangar, training, helipad, on-site support specialists, outdoor calibration and testing facilities, recharging stations and more.

“Till now only Government were using drones. Now, corporates will also use drones aggressively in transmission lines, oil and gas, infrastructure and mines,” said Prem Kumar, Prem Kumar Vislawath, Founder and Chief Innovator at Telangana-based Marut Drones.

“Drone Shakti and Kisaan drones will definitely help take this technology to impact common people on grassroot level at a massive scale,” he said.

“Drones act as a platform to be applied to multiple industries. Equal focus should also be given to the ecosystem including research and development and manufacturing of drones to support the service sector,” said Philip J Thomas, CEO of Starfish Growth Partners, which is into early stage incubation and acceleration.

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