In news : Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted permission to 34 green zone sites for NPNT compliant drone operations
Key updates
- The Ministry has granted permits to “No-Permission-No-Takeoff’ (NPNT) compliant drone operations at 34 additional green zones to facilitate, smoothen, and promote drone operations in the country.
- The approved sites allow drone usage up to 400 ft Above Ground Level (AGL).
- These zones are in addition to the twenty-six green zone sites approved dated 02 Feb 2021 and six green zone sites approved dated 03 Apr 2020.
Obtaining the permission
- As per DGCA, “NPNT compliance enables every Remotely Piloted Aircraft (except Nano) to obtain a valid permission through Digital Sky platform before operating in India.
- This further allows non operationalization of drones prior to necessary approvals.
- Flying in these approved ‘green-zones’ will require only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the Digital Sky portal or the app.
Registering
The proposed framework mandates users to register on an online portal which acts as the national unmanned traffic management system for remotely piloted aircraft.
Rules applicable to green zones
Drone flights in the green zone sites shall be compliant with the applicable conditions of Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021. The concerned State Governments and Local Administrations are requested to facilitate operations of NPNT-compliant drones in the mentioned sites.
Digital Sky platform
- It is an online IT platform developed for handling Unique Identification Number(UIN) issued by DGCA,Unmanned Aircraft Operator Permit(UAOP) applications, and permission to fly Remotely Piloted Aircraft System(s)(RPAs) in India.
- This platform is in operation since 2018
- It is the first-of-its-kind national unmanned traffic management (UTM) platform that implements “no permission, no take-off” (NPNT).
- The platform has been built to evolve with the evolving needs of this rapidly changing industry. Its users will be required to do a one-time registration of their drones, pilots and owners.
Colour coding of flying Zones
To get permissions to fly, RPAS operators or remote pilots will have to file a flight plan
- Green zones: Flying in the ‘green zones’ will require only intimation of the time and location of the flights via the portal or the app.
- Yellow zones: Permissions will be required for flying in ‘yellow zones’ and
- Red zones: The flights will not be allowed in the ‘red zones’.
Permission, if granted, will be available digitally on the portal If an RPAS does not have permission to fly, it will not be allowed to take-off under the policy of NoPermission-No-Takeoff (NPNT).
Extra Reading: https://journalsofindia.com/digital-sky-platform-2/
