ICMR and IIT-B exempted from Drone Rules 2021! Recently, the Civil Aviation Ministry and Directorate General of Civil Aviation have granted conditional exemption from Drone Rules 2021 to the country’s prestigious educational institution, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, the permission has been granted to Indian Council of Medical Research for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) vaccine delivery in the northeastern states of Manipur, Nagaland as well as Andaman and Nicobar Islands up to a height of 3000 meters utilizing drones. The permission to use Drone has been granted to Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, for research, development as well as testing of drones in its own premises.
According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, this conditional exemption from Drone Rules 2021 shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the said airspace clearance. Besides, it shall be valid for a duration of one year starting from the date of approval of the said airspace clearance or until further orders, whichever falls earlier, the Civil Ministry further said.
The statement further mentioned that the link to the public notices can be accessed from the official website of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. Earlier, on 11 September 2021, the first of its kind ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project was launched by Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia at Vikarabad in the state of Telangana under which drugs and vaccines will be delivered using drones. The Ministry of Civil Aviation, on 25 August 2021, notified the liberalized Drone Rules 2021 in a bid to usher in an era of super normal growth while balancing safety and security considerations in operations of drones, the statement by the Civil Aviation Ministry added.
