Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: India’s commercial drone industry had a market size of $1.88 billion (Rs 17,000 crore) in FY26, which is expected to grow at a compounded 17.98 per cent rate during FY25–29, a report showed on March 26. Globally, the US leads the commercial drone industry, followed by China, with India currently ranked seventh, according to a research report by B2K Analytics.
As per the report, drones can cut the cost of agrochemical spraying by nearly 80 per cent compared with manual spraying. A study analysed small and medium-sized drones costing Rs 6.4–7.1 lakh with a maximum operational life of three years versus annual manual labour costs of about Rs 1.7 lakh.
“Despite the higher upfront cost, drones can cover 6–6.6 acres in the time manual labour covers one acre. After accounting for efficiency and depreciation, drones were found to be over 78 per cent more cost effective than manual labour,” the findings showed. In India, there are currently 122 holders of the Type Certificate — an approval issued by the DGCA confirming that a drone model meets safety, airworthiness, and performance standards for commercial use.
Among these, about 70 per cent have obtained certification for drones used in agriculture, mainly for agrochemical spraying. Another 24 per cent operate in surveillance and mapping, highlighting agriculture as the dominant use-case for drones at present.
Government policies have supported the local drone ecosystem through measures such as the ban on completely built drone units and the production-linked incentive scheme for manufacturing and R&D.
