Maha govt to form task force for drone industry: CM Fadnavis

Mumbai, Aug 13 (IANS) To accelerate the growth of Maharashtra’s drone sector, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday announced that the government will set up a high‑level Ministerial Task Force chaired by Minister for Electronics, Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence Ashish Shelar.

The task force will focus on effectively implementing state drone policies, extending government schemes to entrepreneurs, and promptly addressing operational challenges. The announcement was made following a high‑level meeting chaired by CM Fadnavis to review inputs and expectations from key drone industry stakeholders.

CM Fadnavis highlighted the need to create a unified “Policy of Policies” for the drone sector by consolidating provisions related to Research and Development (R&D), indigenous component manufacturing, testing facilities, patents, and subsidies, which are scattered across various state policies. He emphasised that Maharashtra’s drone policy remains robust compared to other states.

The Chief Minister directed officials to pool R&D financial provisions from multiple state schemes into a single point of access, enabling entrepreneurs to claim combined benefits for innovation, development and testing seamlessly. He stressed that existing enterprises should not be overlooked while attracting new investments and instructed departments to explore providing financial assistance to cover testing costs for established players until official laboratories and testing facilities are operational.

He also gave directions to expedite the establishment of the proposed “Drone City” in the industrial belt of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. The state is considering a special incentive framework, through the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC), for the next two to three years to allocate land to drone manufacturers. He said the Government will set up dedicated testing ranges, assist entrepreneurs with patent filing expenses and streamline access to joint Central and State Government incentive programmes.

IT and AI Minister Ashish Shelar assured entrepreneurs that work previously executed by existing drone innovators and youth will be properly evaluated and accommodated within the current policy framework.

“The state’s objective is to give a massive push to indigenous drone manufacturing by extending full administrative and infrastructure support. Through inter‑departmental coordination, specialised missions and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funding, we will boost the local ecosystem. Additionally, state aerospace infrastructure will be strengthened immediately to tap expanding opportunities in the defence domain,” said Minister Shelar.

--IANS

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