India to become hub of drone technology: Anurag Thakur

India will become a hub of drone technology and will require at least 1 lakh drone pilots by next year, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said on Tuesday.
He was addressing a gathering after flagging the ‘Drone Yatra 2.0’, in Chennai.
The minister said, technology was truly transforming the world at a rapid rate and it has never been more relevant than now as its applications were solving some of the most pressing problems on the planet.
“Prime Minister Modi once remarked that ‘India has a billion solutions to a million problems.’ As a country of a billion plus people, India is increasingly leveraging technology to stay ahead of the curve,” Thakur said.
Detailing the advancements in drone technology in India, he said that during the Beating Retreat, the entire nation was mesmerised by the spectacular display of 1000 ‘Made in India’ drones by Indian start-up ‘Botlab Dynamics’ led by an IIT alumni.
As part of the SWAMITVA scheme (Survey of villages and mapping with improvised technology in village areas), a survey of the land and houses was being prepared through drones in the villages, he added.
Thakur reiterated the government’s commitment to promoting the use of technology in the agriculture sector in order to increase farm production.
It was envisaged that these drones would help in streamlining the use of pesticides in farms, which would further improve the profitability of farmers.
Drones were increasingly being used to sprinkle pesticides and nano fertilizers in the fields in rural villages.