Kaushalya – Ahmedabad’s Skill University, a state university, is establishing a drone manufacturing and training lab called “Drone Mantra” to provide drone manufacturing and programming training in a real-world setting using advanced machinery and technology.
Drones with approved type designs by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will also be produced.
More than 100 drones will be manufactured every year as per the requirement. “Drone Mantra” will have facility to develop new types of drones and applications of drones.
On the reasons behind setting up this lab, Anju Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary Labour, Skill Development and Employment department, told The Indian Express, “With the increase in demand for drones, there is a shortage of certified drones as these are not available with a long waiting period.”
Further, the lab will reduce the costs by an estimated 40-50 per cent for the DGCA approved drones.
The certified drone normally costs around Rs 6-7 lakh, but this is expected to be reduced to Rs 3.5 lakh.
“Drones manufactured here will supplement replenishment of obsolete and condemned drone fleet. For achieving this objectives Kaushlya – The Skill University has collaborated with drone manufacturer to ensure availability of latest technology and manufacturing process. State-of-the-art facilities for drone training is created for the first time in Gujarat at School of Drones,” Sharma added.
Under the School of Drone at Kaushalya – The Skill University, the center will offer two advance postgraduate level courses in drone manufacturing — one year Post Graduate Diploma in Drone Manufacturing and Programming and two-year Post Graduate (MSc) course in Drone Manufacturing and Programming.
Moreover, the School of Drone will offer courses covering entire value-chain of drone ecosystem. The school through this lab will provide special incubation support to start-ups in drone technology.
A prototype of the proposed drone is also ready for production. It is being tested for various flight conditions before being sent to the QCI Quality Council of India (QCI) for testing and certification. Once the required reports are received, the procedure for obtaining DGCA type certification will be initiated.
In the same premises, Kaushalya – The Skill University is also establishing the I – KUSHAL incubation and innovation foundation, which will support innovation, research and development, and start-ups and entrepreneurs.
In August 2022, the School of Drone faculty under ‘Kaushalya- The Skill University’ was inaugurated after the facility was inspected by the DGCA and the university was granted DGCA authorized Remote Pilot Training Organization (RPTO) approval for drone pilot training by the Government of India.
The university has so far trained over 60 ITI instructors as drone master pilot trainers.
The School of Drones at Kaushalya-The Skill University has established a training facility in accordance with the Civil Aviation Authority of India’s guidelines.