Drones to increase crop yields, reduce farmers expenses: Shri Goyal

Government’s primary focus is to ease regulations, reduce compliances of startups: Shri Goyal

PM Modi’s infra push to put nation on virtuous cycle of growth: Shri Goyal

Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Shri Piyush Goyal during his address at the International Innovation Conclave organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry (PHDCCI) in New Delhi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is ready to promote the drone industry that has seen rapid growth in the last three years. Praising the development of technology and growth in the drone industry on the strength of innovation, Shri Goyal asserted that development of the drone ecosystem and deploying them in villages across the nation aligns with the PM’s ‘NAMO Drone Didi’ initiative that will help empower the women in the agriculture sector.

Shri Goyal said that technological progress in the drone industry will help combat erratic weather patterns and assist farmers in getting higher quality and higher quantity yields. The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for drones and drone components is a kickstarter for the sector to progress and should not be considered as a permanent subsidy scheme from the government, said the MInister. “In the third term of the PM’s administration we will work at triple the speed, ensure three times the result and and hope to become the third largest economy in the world”, said the Union Minister.

He further stated that drones have the ability to contribute to the cooperative sector, Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and to Farmers Producer Organisation (FPOs) as a shared facility with the help of agri-infra funds in delivering fertilisers and reducing wastage and expenses of the farmers. The Union Minister said that for financing and mentoring of the drone ecosystem, SIDBI can be roped in to promote the sector.

On the startup ecosystem, the Minister said that 18 Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) have already been offered in the first half of 2024 and 17 IPOs were offered in 2023. Shri Goyal added that under the guidance of PM Modi, the country has seen windfall investments from foreign investors and there has been a massive push for infrastructure. He further stated that easing of regulations and compliance burden on startups along with enabling Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) have been the primary focus of PM Modi’s government.

Shri Goyal also stated that the infrastructure growth has a multiplier effect on the economy that leads to demand for goods and services and increases consumption in the country. He added that PM’s infra push has enabled growth of industry and generation of employment that has put the nation on a virtuous cycle of growth.

Drone ecosystem policy promotes agricultural deployment and regulatory easing to empower women and support shared agri services. The government is promoting the drone ecosystem for rural agricultural deployment to empower women via the 'NAMO Drone Didi' initiative and to improve yields and reduce farmer expenses through precision and shared-service models for SHGs, FPOs and cooperatives. The Production-Linked Incentive is framed as a kickstarter rather than a permanent subsidy, while policy priorities include easing regulations, reducing startup compliance burdens, enabling Ease of Doing Business, and mobilising finance and mentoring support from institutions such as SIDBI to scale the sector.