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UAS regulations

UAS Regulations were gazetted by the Ministry of Transport on 12th March 2021 and are here (English from page 80):
https://www.dgca.gov.in/digigov-portal/?page=jsp/dgca/InventoryList/RegulationGuidance/Rules/The%20Unmanned%20Aircraft%20System%20Rules/UAS%20Rules,%202021.pdf

an RPAS page is here: 
https://www.dgca.gov.in/digigov-portal/ page=jsp/dgca/InventoryList/headerblock/drones/RPAS.html 

An excellent summary is provided on the DigitalSky page: https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/home

[UPDATED BY DAVID GUERIN, 24 MARCH 2021]

Previous information:

Drone laws were published for India by the DGCA effective 1 December 2018:  CAR Section 3 Series X Part I - Requirements for Operation of Civil Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS).


The Ministry of Civil Aviation of India has published a Drone Ecosystem Policy Roadmap :
 

“The India’s Digital Sky Portal” is India’s portal for drone operations and provides important links to regulations, registration requirements, and  government notices related to UAS operations.   https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/

FAQs: India's Digital Sky Platform with a comprehensive FAQ 

RPAS Registration guidelines: https://dronenlisting.dgca.gov.in/

There is a regulatory summary herehttps://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=038bc0e6-484c-46a9-a432-26b13f97651b   

and another:

https://www.mondaq.com/india/aviation/751248/rules-governing-flying-of-drones-remotely-piloted-aircrafts-in-india

A summary text of these regulations will be published on the African Drone Forum website in Q1 2021: (www.africandroneforum.org)

[Updated Nov 2020 David Guerin with research conducted by Denise Soesilo]

Last update / 24.09.2021

Drone Use in Conservation

Goa, India: 'UAV MAPPING OF TURTLE NESTING BEACHES IN GOA'
This project is to showcase the use of UAVs for the conservation of Olive ridley turtles (classified as vulnerable) to:
"... document nesting turtles and conduct assessments of their population. ... To do this, we initiated a collaboration across all three sectors- the Goa Forest Department as a Government of India entity, WWF-India in their capacity as an established conservation NGO and Technology for Wildlife representing the private sector as a conservation enterprise."

https://socialdesignlibrary.in/uav-mapping-of-turtle-nesting-beaches-in-goa/
https://www.techforwildlife.com/projects

[UPDATED BY Macayle Guerin, December 2021]

Legal sources

Last update / 10.11.2020

Contact info

Last update / 02.03.2017

Related articles

India Flying Labs: https://flyinglabs.org/india/

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India Flying Labs is a robotic innovation hub that catalyzes social good with equity and inclusion.


Unmanned Systems Association of India

Arpil 2022 :Medical drone deliveries trial in Himachal Pradesh:
https://www.airmedandrescue.com/latest/news/skye-mobility-deliver-medical-drone-deliveries-himachal-pradesh

Last update / 02.05.2022