India can become global drone hub: PM Modi at country’s biggest drone festival

India has the potential to become a global drone hub, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Thursday as he inaugurated the country’s biggest drone festival. “During the earlier governments, technology was considered part of the problem, efforts were made to prove it was anti-poor.

Due to this, there was an atmosphere of indifference regarding the use of technology in governance before 2014. The poor suffered the most, the deprived, the middle class also suffered,” the prime minister said, hitting out at former governments under the Congress.

The prime minister said that the centre was ensuring that technology was available for the masses. “In earlier times, technology and its inventions were considered for the elite class. Today, we are making technology available to masses first,” he said.

“We are also moving towards creating a strong drone manufacturing ecosystem in India through schemes like PLI: Technology has helped a lot in furthering the vision of saturation, in ensuring last mile delivery. Following the path of minimum government, maximum governance, we have made ease of living, ease of doing business our priority.”

Farmers are no longer apprehensive about using new technology, he added, highlighting the use of drone technology in the agriculture sector. “The enthusiasm that is being seen in India regarding drone technology is amazing. This energy is visible, it is a reflection of the quantum jump in the drone service and drone based industry in India. It shows the possibilities of an emerging large sector of employment generation in India,” he said.

Smart technology will take the country’s agricultural sector to a new level, the prime minister underlined, speaking at the two-day Bharat Drone Mahotsav at Delhi’s Pragati Maidan.

Ahead of the PM’s address, union aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had highlighted: “It is estimated that the drone industry will reach ₹15,000 crore turnover by the year 2026. Today, there are 270 drones startups in India.”

Over 1,600 delegates – government officials, foreign diplomats, armed forces central armed police forces, public sector units, private companies and drone startups – are participating in the festival. More than 70 exhibitors are displaying various use cases of drones at the exhibition, according to a government statement.