The Quality Council of India (QCI) has provisionally approved India’s first drone Certification body to National Test House (NTH) Ghaziabad, country’s premier industrial testing agency. The NTH will now certify drones or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) at a highly competitive price to promote drone manufacturing ecosystem in India.The Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution (MCAFPD) has termed the development as a significant milestone that aligns with the Government of India’s push towards fostering a robust and globally competitive drone ecosystem under the Drone Rules 2021.NTH is India’s largest multi-location multidisciplinary industrial testing laboratory dealing with calibration and quality evaluation related to industry, commerce, trade etc. as per international and nations standards. Its branches have been established at Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Ghaziabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Varanasi. Only Ghaziabad NTH centre got a provisional certification body for type certification – a mandatory requirement for drones operating in India under the Drone Rules 2021.In next two days, a team of auditors from NTH will visit M/s Vimaana Aerospace Technologies, Noida for conducting a Stage-2 (onsite) assessment. It will evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural drone models designed to meet the specific needs of the farming sector.The Certification body’s initiative is aligned with the government’s vision to position India as a global hub for drone technology and to support sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, logistics, and infrastructure with safe and certified drone solutions. Moreover, it has been also providing a highly competitive fee of Rs 1.5 lakh for the certification process.“With its newly added capability in drone certification, NTH is further strengthening India’s ‘Make in India’ and “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” initiatives by ensuring that homegrown drone technologies meet international standards,” the MCAFPD stated in its release.
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