A meeting between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin and officials of Google’s parent Alphabet came as a shot in the arm for Indian drone manufacturers. 

According to reports, the tech giant is planning to establish a factory in the southern state to manufacture drones.

In 2021, the government announced a subsidy of Rs 120 crore under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the manufacturers of drones and their components.

Then, in the Interim Budget 2024–25 presented earlier this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman increased the outlay for the sector under the PLI scheme to Rs 57 crore from Rs 33 crore the previous year.

In 2022, then Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur had said that India aims to become a global leader in drone manufacturing.

Flagging off the Drone Yatra 2.0—an initiative to send drones to villages to apply pesticides to farms—he had said the country would require at least 100,000 drone pilots by 2023. 

Subsequently, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) recognised 63 remote pilot training organisations in 2023.