The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted type certificate to three more drone manufacturers — Asteria Aerospace, General Aeronautics and Dhaksha Unmanned Systems — on Thursday.
Under the rules, DGCA describes a type certificate as a certificate that is issued for a specific type of unmanned aircraft system (drone) by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on the recommendation of the Quality Council of India (QCI) or an authorised testing entity.
Drone Rules 2021 were released in August 2021 in a statement from the government that read, “Drones offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the economy like – agriculture, mining, infrastructure, surveillance, emergency response, transportation, geospatial mapping, defence and law enforcement etc. Drones can be significant creators of employment and economic growth due to their reach, versatility, and ease of use, especially in India’s remote and inaccessible areas.”
The first type certificate was granted to IoTechWorld Avigation earlier in June by the ministry.
“Drone manufacturers are free to approach any certification body approved by Quality Council of India (QCI) for their Type Certificate test reports,” the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said earlier in a tweet.
It also added that MoCA, DGCA, Certification bodies, and industry bodies are working closely to help applicants in their certification process. Suggestions in the certification scheme are welcome and will be included without compromising on safeguards related to quality, safety & national security.
The DGCA also gave its approval to Garuda Aerospace to train 100,000 youth on the use of drones for agricultural purposes. The company has become the 31st remote pilot-training organisation in the country to receive approval.
