Drone pilot as a career gathers pace in TN
“Each organisation, which has drones, cannot allocate its staff as drone pilots,” he said pointing out the demand for exclusive drone pilots.
Representative image
CHENNAI: With the usage of drones for various purposes seeing an exponential rise in Tamil Nadu, the demand for drone pilots is also soaring. It is estimated that the industry requires 70,000 such pilots in next two years.
Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Corporation (TUAVC) in partnership with Madras Institute of Technology, Anna University has been established to cater for the drone-based needs of various state government departments.
Drone-based solutions were provided in law enforcement, mining, revenue and municipal administration, urban development, water management, agriculture and allied sectors, disaster management, health, forestry, archaeology, Geographic Information System (GIS) and environmental studies.
Accordingly, a senior official from the Higher Education Department told DT Next that so far the corporation had supplied more than 200 drones to the government departments as well as private firms.
“Each organisation, which has drones, cannot allocate its staff as drone pilots,” he said pointing out the demand for exclusive drone pilots.
The official said that given the demand, the TUAVC, in association with the Centre for Aerospace Research at Anna University, training were given to students and youths to become drone pilots.
Claiming that it was estimated that within two years more than 70,000 drone pilots will be recruited by the industries, the official said there are two types of training categories -- small category and small and medium category.
“At the end of each course, a Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) certified licence will be issued to the successful candidates”.
He said that until July 2023, there were about 5,100 certified drone pilots available across the country. “It was a steep increase when compared to the previous year”, he said adding “During the same period, there were around 13,000 registered drones in the country”.
From the Tamil Nadu perspective, the official said that the TUAVC has proposed the Tamil Nadu Wetlands Department for mapping select 50 wetlands in the State. Also, surveillance drones are sought by the Tamil Nadu Coastal Security Group, Special Task Force, Tamil Nadu Police and Tamil Nadu Minerals Department.
