The Ministry of Civil Aviation has released an interactive digital airspace map for flying drones. The map demarcates green, yellow and red zones across the country for the purpose of drone operations.
The digital map is available on the Digital Sky platform of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. This comes as a follow up to the recent liberal drone policy, PLI scheme for drones and geospatial data guidelines.
The revised drone rules are based on non-intrusive surveillance of premises and activities of self-certification.
For the purpose of drone operations, the digital map divides Indian airspace into green, yellow and red zones.
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The green zone consists of airspace up to 400 feet that is not designated as a red or yellow zone; and 200 feet above an area located between 8-12 kilometers from the periphery of an operational airport. No permission is required to operate drones weighing up to 500 kg in such areas.
Yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone. Areas located between 8-12 kms from the periphery of an operational airport and 5-8 kms from the periphery of an operational airport having an area above 200 feet above the ground shall be treated as yellow zone.
Drone operations in the Yellow Zone require permission from the concerned Air Traffic Control Authority, i.e. AAI, IAF, Navy, HAL, etc., as the case may be. The Ministry of Civil Aviation further mentioned that the yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km earlier to 12 km from the periphery of the airport.
The red zone is designated as a no-drone area, where drones can be operated only after permission from the central government.
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The airspace map may be revised by authorized entities from time to time, the ministry said, adding that anyone planning to operate a drone should check the latest airspace map for any change in the boundaries of the area. Must be checked.
“Drones provide tremendous benefits in almost all sectors of the economy. These include – agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geospatial mapping, defense and law enforcement. Drones have their reach, Due to versatility and ease of use, it can be a significant creator of employment and economic growth, especially in remote and inaccessible areas of India,” the ministry said while announcing the digital airspace map.
It further said, “Given its traditional strengths in innovation, information technology, frugal engineering and its huge domestic demand, India has the potential to become a global drone hub by 2030.”
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Under the drone rules notified on August 25, several permissions have been abolished, and the number of forms required has been reduced from 25 to 5. In addition, the types of fees have been reduced to 4 from the earlier 74.
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