India Agricultural Drones Market 2026

Kisan Drone support runs through the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization. According to a March 2023 written reply in the Lok Sabha by the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, institutes under ICAR, Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, state agricultural universities, and state and central government agricultural institutions and PSUs can receive 100% of the cost of a drone up to INR 10 lakh, for purchase of drones for demonstrations. Farmer producer organisations can receive up to 75% of the cost for demonstrations on farmers’ fields.

For rental services, custom hiring centres run by farmer cooperatives, FPOs and rural entrepreneurs receive 40% of the cost up to INR 4 lakh; agriculture graduates setting up such centres receive 50% up to INR 5 lakh. For individual ownership, small and marginal, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe, women and North Eastern farmers receive 50% up to INR 5 lakh, and other farmers 40% up to INR 4 lakh.

By March 2023 the ministry had released INR 129.19 crore for Kisan Drone promotion, including INR 52.50 crore to ICAR for 300 drones. In a written reply in the Lok Sabha released on 16 December 2025, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said 2,122 drones had been approved for distribution to individual farmers and custom hiring centres under SMAM between 2023-24 and 30 November 2025, and that ICAR institutions, state agricultural universities and KVKs had conducted drone demonstrations on 41,010 hectares benefitting 452,291 farmers over the same period.

A government release dated 29 November 2023 said the Union Cabinet had approved the scheme with an outlay of INR 1,261 crore, to provide drones to 15,000 selected women’s self-help groups for rental services to farmers. It provides central financial assistance of 80% of the cost of the drone and accessories, up to INR 8 lakh. The SHGs’ Cluster Level Federations may raise the balance as a loan under the National Agriculture Infra Financing Facility, with 3% interest subvention on that loan.

Delivery has been far below the target so far. In December 2025 the agriculture ministry said lead fertiliser companies had distributed 1,094 drones to self-help groups in 2023-24 from their own resources, of which 500 were under NaMo Drone Didi. Down To Earth’s record of Parliament for 24 March 2026 reports the Minister of State for Rural Development telling the Lok Sabha that, according to the Department of Fertilisers, lead fertiliser companies had so far distributed 500 drones under the scheme.

For suppliers, the scheme is a large stated demand pool that has not yet turned into volume. Any forecast that assumes drones for all 15,000 targeted groups should be read against the 500 distributed.

The PLI scheme for drones and drone components, announced in September 2021, allocates INR 120 crore spread over three financial years, with incentives of up to 20% of value addition. The government described the allocation as nearly double the combined turnover of all domestic drone manufacturers in FY 2020-21.

In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha released on 31 March 2022, the Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation listed a drone import policy notified on 9 February 2022 that banned the import of foreign drones while freeing up imports of drone components, alongside the Drone Rules 2021 (25 August 2021), the drone airspace map (24 September 2021) and a drone certification scheme that eased type certificates for manufacturers (26 January 2022).

The airspace map, published on DGCA’s Digital Sky platform, marks yellow and red zones; green zone is airspace up to 400 feet not designated red or yellow. The ministry said the map opened up nearly 90% of Indian airspace as green zone for drone flying up to 400 feet.