Drone import banned; defence, R&D exceptions

The government on Wednesday banned the import of drones other than for defence, security and research purposes. The aim is to promote ‘Made in India’ drones, according to a notification by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT). The ban will not apply to the import of drone parts.

The government has taken a series of steps to boost domestic manufacturing of drones and drone components including announcing a Rs 120-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme and liberalising drone operation rules. “Import policy for drones in CBU (Completely Built Up) /CKD (Completely Knocked Down)/SKD (Semi Knocked Down ) form… is prohibited with exceptions provided for R&D, defence and security purposes,” the DGFT said. Even the import of drones for these purposes will require government clearances.