India: 34 green zone sites approved for NPNT compliant drone operations
NEW DELHI: Ministry of Civil Aviation has granted permit 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.
As per DGCA, “NPNT or ‘No Permission – No Take-off’ 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.
The framework mandates users to register on an online portal which acts as the national unmanned traffic management system for remotely piloted aircraft.
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.
