Himachal signs pact to use drones for farming, traffic management

Palampur, July 5 Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday signed five memorandums of understanding of Rs 200 crore to significantly use drones to benefit farmers, horticulturists, besides traffic management.

These included an agreement with FICCI to promote the use of drones in governance.

Additionally, agreements were signed with Abecode Technologies Private Ltd and Dronetech Solutions Private Ltd for investment in Himachal, and SkyeAir for an unmanned traffic management solution to oversee flight operations in collaboration with the Department of Digital Technologies and Governance, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Agricultural University (CSKHPKV) and IIT Ropar.

Skye Air, SaaS based autonomous drone logistics provider, will deploy UTM (unmanned traffic management) across the state.

As the only indigenous unmanned traffic management system in India, Skye UTM provides automated airspace traffic management, generating approvals, and coordinating drone movements without manual intervention.

It serves as the foundation for next-generation air traffic management systems, ensuring safety and security in the rapidly growing drone industry.

Virtually addressing the concluding ceremony of the first North India's Himachal Drone conclave, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Sukhu emphasised the promotion of IT-driven governance in the state while highlighting the potential benefits of the drone technology which could play a vital role to benefit farmers, horticulturists, besides other sectors including monitoring law and order.

Sukhu said the government was committed to leverage modern technology, such as artificial intelligence, to enhance governance.

He said Himachal was embracing technological advancements, paving the way for transformative changes.

Highlighting the importance of technology adoption, Sukhu asked the CSKHPKV in Palampur to exhibit the use of drone technology on its campus as well as to motivate farmers to embrace technological advancements for increasing their economy and efficiency.

On the signing of MoUs for drone manufacturing in the state, the Chief Minister said the government would extend all possible support and required facilities to the investors and would procure drones for usage in the government sector.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ashish Butail emphasised the widespread use of drones in various fields and lauded the government's efforts to maximise the benefits of technology for the people.

Principal Advisor (IT and Innovations) Gokul Butail highlighted that the vision of the Chief Minister inspired organising such conclave, a first of its kind in Himachal Pradesh. He said drone technology could provide employment opportunities for the youth in near future.

The conclave saw the participation of representatives from 26 private companies and 25 state government departments.

--IANS