Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: Reinforcing the Government’s commitment to Make in India, Atmanirbhar Bharat, and Vision 2047, the National Test House (NTH) has taken a significant step towards positioning India as a globally competitive hub for safe, reliable, and certified drone technologies.
In this direction, NTH has entered into a collaboration with the Standardisation Testing & Quality Certification Directorate (STQC) – Electronics Regional Test Laboratory (North), under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY). This will enable electromagnetic interference and electromagnetic compatibility testing of drones, thus strengthening India’s drone testing and certification framework.
The collaboration addresses a critical regulatory requirement under the Drone Rules, 2021 and the Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, 2022, and will significantly enhance India’s capability to certify safe, reliable, and globally compliant Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS).
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on February 2 in the presence of Nidhi Khare, Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs; Dr Alok Kumar Srivastava, Director General, National Test House; Vivek Kashyap, Scientist ‘G’, STQC Directorate; and Pradeep Gunjyal, Scientist ‘F’ and Director, ERTL (North).
Under the MoU, testing of drones and their subsystems will be carried out at the electronics laboratory in accordance with applicable IEC 61000 / IS 14700 standards, while NTH will conduct the rest of the tests at its own premises.
The test reports generated through this collaboration will be seamlessly integrated into the Type Certification process, providing drone manufacturers — particularly start-ups and MSMEs — with a transparent, seamless, credible, and Government-backed certification pathway.
This collaborative approach avoids duplication of high-cost infrastructure, enables optimal utilisation of existing national facilities, and significantly strengthens India’s regulatory framework for drone safety and reliability.
It also ensures that drones certified through NTH meet global benchmarks such as IEC / ISO, MIL-STD, ASTM, and RTCA, enhancing international acceptance of Indian-certified drones.
By making world-class drone testing and certification accessible and affordable, at substantially lower cost than private facilities, the initiative will accelerate innovation across sectors such as agriculture, logistics, healthcare, disaster management, infrastructure monitoring, and smart cities.
NTH is a premier scientific and testing institution of the Government, established in 1912, functioning under the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution. With a nationwide network of NABL-accredited laboratories, NTH provides testing, inspection, quality assurance, and certification services across diverse sectors.
Testing of drones and their subsystems will be carried out at the electronics laboratory in accordance with applicable IEC 61000 / IS 14700 standards, while NTH will conduct the rest of the tests at its own premises.