INDIA’S AIRSPACE MAP FOR DRONE OPERATIONS RELEASED BY THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

INDIA’S AIRSPACE MAP FOR DRONE OPERATIONS RELEASED BY THE MINISTRY OF CIVIL AVIATION

Context:

The Central Government under the leadership of  Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has released India’s airspace map for drone operations on 24 September 2021.  The map is available on DGCA’s digital sky platform at https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/home.

The drone airspace map comes in accordance with the Liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 issued by the Federal Government on 25 August 2021, the PLI program for drones released on 15 September 2021 and the Geospatial Data Guidelines issued on 15 Feb 2021. All these policy changes will help the more general growth in the next drone sector.

10 FEATURES OF THE DRONE AIRSPACE MAPS:

• The drone airspace map is a map of India that demarcates the yellow and red zones across the country.
• Green zone is the airspace up to 400 feet that have not been selected as a red or yellow zone and up to 200 feet above the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.
• In green zones, no permission is required for operating drones with an all-up weight of up to 500 kg.
• The yellow zone is the airspace above 400 feet in a designated green zone; above 200 feet in the area located between 8-12 km from the perimeter of an operational airport and above ground in the area located between 5-8 km from the perimeter of an operational airport.
• Drone operations in the yellow zone require permission from the concerned air traffic control authority – AAI, IAF, Navy, HAL etc. as the case may be.
• The yellow zone has been reduced from 45 km earlier to 12 km from the airport perimeter.
• The red zone is the ‘no-drone zone’ within which drones can be operated only after permission from the Central Government.
• The airspace map may be modified by authorised entities from time to time.
• Anyone planning to operate a drone should mandatorily check the latest airspace map for any changes in zone boundaries.
• The drone airspace map is freely available on the digital sky platform to all without any login requirements.