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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. : 6271
( TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 2nd April 2026 )
DRONE INTEGRATION POLICY
6271. SHRI SAUMITRA KHAN
SHRI DARSHAN SINGH CHOUDHARY
SMT KRITI DEVI DEBBARMAN
SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN
SHRI RAJPALSINH MAHENDRASINH JADAV
Will the Minister of CIVIL AVIATION
be pleased to state:-
(a) the manner in which the reduction of GST on drones to five per cent in late 2025 has
impacted the adoption of drone-as-a-service models in the agricultural and logistics sectors;
(b) whether the Government proposes to notify the National Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF)
Policy to meet the one per cent blending target mandate starting in 2027 and if so, the details
thereof;
(c) the progress made in the Namo Drone Didi initiative; and
(d) the number of women self-help groups trained successfully as drone pilots under the said
initiative as of February 2026, State and district-wise including in West Bengal and
Narmadapuram Lok Sabha Constituency?
ANSWER
Minister of State in the Ministry of CIVIL AVIATION (Shri Murlidhar Mohol)
(a) The Government of India has taken a significant step towards strengthening farm
mechanization by reducing the Goods and Services Tax (GST) slab on agricultural machinery,
including drones, from 12-18% to 5%. This measure directly benefits farmers across the
country, particularly those availing support under various farm mechanization assistance
programs.
The reduction in GST has lowered the purchase cost of drones, making them more affordable
and accessible for farmers. When combined with financial support available under farm
mechanization schemes, which provide subsidies of up to 40-50% for the purchase of
agricultural machinery, including drones, farmers gain the dual advantage of lower taxation
and financial assistance. Under the Namo Drone Didi Scheme, subsidies amount to 80% of the
drone package cost, up to a maximum of Rs 8 lakh per drone package.;
(b)The Government has approved indicative blending targets of 1% by 2027, 2% by 2028 and
5% by 2030 for Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) in traditional ATF, initially for international
flights. Public sector Oil Marketing Companies are actively engaged in achieving the stated
blending targets. The Government has also initiated steps for formulation of a SAF Policy.(c) and (d) Namo Drone Didi Yojana (NDDY) was approved by the Government as a Central
Sector Scheme with an outlay of Rs 1,261 crore for the period from Financial Year (FY) 2023-
24 to FY 2025-26. The scheme aims to provide 15,000 agricultural drones to selected Women
Self-Help Groups (SHGs). In 2023, 1,094 drones were distributed to SHGs by Lead Fertilizer
Companies using their internal resources. Out of these 1,094 drones, 500 were distributed under
the NDDY scheme. All SHG members have been provided training at Remote Pilot Training
Organisations.;
;
The State and District -wise list of drones distributed and SHG members trained as drone pilots
is attached as Annexure.
******ANNEXURE
ANNEXURE IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 6271
REGARDING “DRONE INTEGRATION POLICY” DUE FOR ANSWER ON
02.04.2026
STATE & DISTRICT-WISE DETAILS OF DRONES DISTRIBUTED AND SHG
MEMBERS TRAINED AS DRONE PILOTS
S. No States District No. Of SHGs
1 Alluri Seetharamaraju 1
2 Anakapalli 1
3 Anantapur 5
4 Annamaya 5
5 Bapatla 6
6 Chittoor 6
7 Dr.B.R. Konaseema 1
8 Eluru 6
9 Guntur 1
10 Kadapa 2
11 Kakinada 4
12 Krishna 7
Andhra Pradesh
13 Kurnool 10
14 Nandyal 9
15 Nellore 4
16 NTR 3
17 Palnadu 4
18 Prakasam 6
19 Spsr Nellore 1
20 Sri Satya Sai 1
21 Srikakulam 11
22 Tirupathi 2
23 West Godavari 6
24 YSR 6
Total 108
1. Baksa 1
2. Barpeta 2
3. Bongaigaon 2
4. Darrang 2
5. Dibrugarh 3
6. Assam Golaghat 4
7. Jorhat 4
8. Morigaon 1
9. Sonitpur 3
10. Tinsukia 3
11. Udalguri 3Total 28
1. Begusarai 3
2. Bhojpur 2
3. Buxar 1
4. Gaya 1
5. Muzaffarpur 2
6. Nalanda 3
7. Patna 2
8. Purbi Champaran 3
Bihar
9. Purnea 4
10. Rohtas 1
11. Saharsa 1
12. Samastipur 5
13. Sitamarhi 1
14. Siwan 1
15. Vaishali 1
16. West Champaran 1
Total 32
1. Balod 2
2. Baloda Bazar 2
3. Bilaspur 2
4. Dhamtari 1
5. Durg 2
Chhattisgarh
6. Janjgir Champa 1
7. Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan- 1
Gandai
8. Mungeli 1
9. Raipur 3
Total 15
1. Goa Sankhli 1
1. Ahmedabad 1
2. Amreli 4
3. Aravali 1
4. Banaskantha 4
5. Bharuch 2
6. Bhavnagar 3
7. Chhotaudepur 1
8. Dahod 1
9. Gujarat Dang 1
10. Devbhumi Dwarka 2
11. Gandhinagar 3
12. Gir Somnath 1
13. Jamnagar 1
14. Kheda 1
15. Kutch 2
16. Mahisagar 2
17. Morbi 218. Narmada 3
19. Patan 3
20. Porbandar 1
21. Rajkot 6
22. Sabarkantha 1
23. Surat 5
24. Surendranagar 2
25. Tapi 2
26. Vadodara 3
Total 58
1. Ambala 2
2. Bhiwani 8
3. Ch Dadri 3
4. Faridabad 1
5. Fatehabad 6
6. Gurgaon 5
7. Hisar 9
8. Jhajjar 2
9. Jind 9
10. Kaithal 6
11. Karnal 8
Haryana
12. Kurukshetra 2
13. Mahendragarh 1
14. Nuh 4
15. Palwal 5
16. Panchkula 1
17. Panipat 4
18. Rewari 2
19. Rohtak 3
20. Sirsa 11
21. Sonipat 7
22. Yamunanagar 3
Total 102
1. Bilaspur 1
2. Himachal Pradesh Mandi 2
3. Sirmaur 1
Total 4
1. J&K J&K 2
1. Deoghar 2
2. Dumka 2
3. Garhwa 2
4. Gumla 1
Jharkhand
5. Hazaribagh 2
6. Lohardaga 1
7. Ranchi 4
8. Sahebgani 1Total 15
1. Bagalkot 7
2. Ballari 4
3. Belagavi 9
4. Belgaum 4
5. Bellary 3
6. Bengaluru 1
7. Bidar 3
8. Bijapur 3
9. Chamarajnagar 3
10. Chikkabalapur 5
11. Chikmagalur 1
12. Chitradurga 1
13. Davanagere 6
14. Dharwad 1
15. Gadag 2
16. Gulbarga 12
Karnataka
17. Hassan 9
18. Haveri 2
19. Jhamkandi 1
20. Kalaburagi 2
21. Kodugu 1
22. Kolar 6
23. Koppal 13
24. Mandya 11
25. Mysore 5
26. Raichur 8
27. Ramanagara 1
28. Shimoga 5
29. Tumkur 4
30. Vijayanagara 7
31. Vijayapur 2
32. Yadgir 3
Total 145
1. Alappuzha 4
2. Ernakulam 4
3. Idukki 3
4. Kannur 1
5. Kasargode 7
6. Kollam 1
Kerala
7. Kottayam 3
8. Kozhikode 4
9. Malapurram 2
10. Palakkad 8
11. Pathanamthitha 4
12. Thiruvananthapuram 313. Thrissur 4
14. Wayanad 3
Total 51
1. Agar 1
2. Agar Malwa 1
3. Alirajpur 1
4. Balaghat 1
5. Barwani 1
6. Betul 1
7. Bhind 2
8. Bhopal 1
9. Burhanpur 1
10. Chattarpur 1
11. Chhindwara 2
12. Damoh 1
13. Datia 2
14. Dewas 2
15. Dhar 2
16. Dindori 1
17. Guna 1
18. Gwalior 6
19. Hosangabad 1
20. Indore 2
21. Jabalpur 1
22. Madhya Pradesh Jhabua 1
23. Katni 3
24. Khandwa 4
25. Mandla 3
26. Morena 3
27. Narmadapuram 1
28. Narsinghpur 1
29. Panna 1
30. Raisen 7
31. Rajgarh 3
32. Ratlam 4
33. Rewa 2
34. Sagar 5
35. Satna 5
36. Sehore 3
37. Seoni 2
38. Shajapur 1
39. Sheopur 1
40. Shivpuri 1
41. Sidhi 1
42. Ujiain 3
43. Vidisha 2Total 89
1. Ahmednagar 6
2. Akola 2
3. Amravati 1
4. Beed 3
5. Bhandara 1
6. Buldhana 1
7. Chandrapur 1
8. Chatrapati Sambhajinagar 1
9. Dharasiv 3
10. Dhule 2
11. Gadchiroli 1
12. Hingoli 1
13. Jalgaon 1
14. Jalna 2
Maharashtra
15. Kolhapur 5
16. Latur 1
17. Nandurbar 1
18. Nasik 4
19. Palqhar 1
20. Parbhani 2
21. Pune 5
22. Raigad 1
23. Sangli 4
24. Satara 3
25. Sindhudure 1
26. Solapur 4
27. Wardha 1
28. Washim 1
Total 60
1. Balasore 2
2. Bargarh 1
3. Belaguntha 1
4. Bolangir 1
5. Cuttack 1
6. Ganjam 1
7. Odisha Jagatsinghpur 1
8. Jajpur 1
9. Kendrapada 2
10. Khordha 2
11. Koraput 1
12. Puri 1
13. Sundargarh 1
Total 16
1. Amritsar 2
Punjab
2. Barnala 33. Bathinda 4
4. Faridkot 1
5. Fatehgarh Sahib 1
6. Fazilka 2
7. Ferozepur 4
8. Gurdaspur 3
9. Hoshiarpur 1
10. Jalandhar 1
11. Ludhiana 4
12. Malerkotla 1
13. Mansa 4
14. Moga 6
15. Muktsar 1
16. Patiala 5
17. Ropar 2
18. Rupnagar 1
19. Sangrur 6
20. Sbs Nagar 1
21. Shri Mukatsar Sahib 3
22. Tarntaran 1
Total 57
1. Ajmer 3
2. Alwar 1
3. Baran 3
4. Barmer 1
5. Bharatpur 2
6. Bhilwara 2
7. Bundi 2
8. Chhitorgarh 2
9. Dausa 1
10. Hanumangarh 2
11. Jaipur 1
12. Jalore 1
13. Rajasthan Jhalawar 1
14. Jhunjhunu 3
15. Jodhpur 1
16. Karauli 2
17. Kota 2
18. Nagaur 2
19. Pratapgarh 1
20. Rajsamand 1
21. Sawai Madhopur 1
22. Sikar 1
23. Sri Ganganagar 2
24. Tonk 1
25. Udaipur 1Total 40
1. Ariyalur 4
2. Chengalpattu 5
3. Coimbatore 1
4. Cuddalore 2
5. Dindigul 2
6. Erode 2
7. Kallakurichi 2
8. Kanchipuram 2
9. Krishnagiri 2
10. Namakkal 1
11. Perambalur 1
Tamil Nadu
12. Pudukkottai 1
13. Ranipet 3
14. Salem 1
15. Thanjavur 2
16. Theni 1
17. Thirppur 2
18. Thiruvarur 1
19. Thoothukudi 1
20. Tirunelveli 1
21. Tiruvannamalai 5
22. Vellore 2
Total 44
1. Badradri Kothagudem 1
2. Bhongir 1
3. Jagitial 1
4. Janagoan 2
5. Kamareddy 1
6. Karimnaqar 3
7. Khammam 8
8. Komaram Bheem Asifabad 2
9. Mahabubabad 3
10. Mahabubnagar 4
11. Mancherial 2
Telangana
12. Medak 3
13. Medchal 3
14. Mehabubnagar 1
15. Mulugu 4
16. Nagarkurnool 1
17. Nalgonda 11
18. Nirmal 3
19. Nizamabad 9
20. Raianna- Siricilla 1
21. Rangareddy 4
22. Siddipet 423. Siricilla 1
24. Suryapet 4
25. Vikarabad 1
26. Warangal 3
Total 81
1. Agra 4
2. Aligarh 2
3. Ambedkar Nagar 2
4. Amethi 4
5. Ayodhya 6
6. Badaun 1
7. Balia 2
8. Barabanki 5
9. Bareilly 4
10. Basti 1
11. Bijnore 1
12. Bulandshahr 2
13. Chandauli 1
14. Deoria 2
15. Etah 2
16. Gonda 2
17. Gorakhpur 8
18. Hardoi 3
19. Hathras 1
20. Jalaun 1
Uttar Pradesh
21. Jaunpur 5
22. Jhansi 3
23. Kanpur Naöar 1
24. Kushinagar 2
25. Lakhimpur 3
26. Maharajganj 2
27. Mahoba 1
28. Mainpuri 4
29. Meerut 3
30. Moradabad 4
31. Pratapgarh 3
32. Prayagraj 16
33. Rae Bareilly 3
34. Sant Kabeer Naqar 2
35. Shahjahanpur 4
36. Sitapur 4
37. Sonbhadra 1
38. Sultanpur 2
39. Unnao 2
40. Varanasi 9
Total 1281. Dehradun 1
2. Uttarakhand Nainital 1
3. Udham Singh Nagar 1
Total 3
1. Bardhaman 1
2. Birbhum 2
3. East Burdwan 1
4. Hooghly 5
5. Jalpaiguri 1
West Bengal
6. Murshidabad 1
7. North Dinajpur 1
8. Paschim Medinipur 1
9. Purbha Bardhman 1
10. South 24 Parganas 1
Total 15
Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare
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