The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components was notified on 30th September 2021. A provisional list of 23 PLI beneficiaries was released on July 6, 2022. The beneficiaries include 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers. The list of shortlisted drones and drone component manufacturers is in Annexure.

The eligibility criteria which have been set for drones and drone component manufacturers are as follows:

(i) Eligibility norms for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and startups are specified are as Rs 2 crore of annual sales revenue for drone manufacturers and Rs 50 lakh of annual sales revenue for drone component manufacturers.

(ii) Eligibility norm for non-MSME has specified as Rs 4 crore of annual sales revenue for drone manufacturers and Rs. 1 crore of annual sales revenue for drone component manufacturers.

(iii) Minimum value addition is specified as 40% of net sales

The Government is providing a total incentive of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years starting 2021-22. The incentive for 2021-22 will be payable in 2022-23 after scrutiny of the financial results of the beneficiaries.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation (Gen. (Dr) VK Singh (Retd) in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha.