New Delhi, India, April 18, 2023: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has disbursed incentives to ideaForge Technology Limited as a part of the Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Drones and Drone Components (“PLI Scheme”) which aims to promote the development of drones and their components in India.
The PLI Scheme was notified by the Government of India on September 30, 2021, as a part of its Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan initiative. Initially, 56 companies had applied for the PLI Scheme, out of which 23 companies were provisionally shortlisted as beneficiaries, which included 12 drone manufacturers and 11 drone component manufacturers.
As per the press release dated 04 April 2023 by PIB Delhi, the Ministry of Civil Aviation has disbursed an amount of approximately Rs. 30 crores to the beneficiaries during FY 2022-23 under the PLI Scheme. The total incentive is Rs. 120 crores spread over three financial years starting from FY 2021-22. The Ministry of Civil Aviation has disbursed approximately 60% of the total disbursed amount in FY 2022-23 under the PLI Scheme to ideaForge.
Ankit Mehta, the CEO of ideaForge, stated, “I believe initiatives like PLI are tools to recognize indigenization potential.” Further he added, “Indigenization is vital today as it helps our country to attain greater self-reliance and lessens the weight of imports. This is an encouragement to boost companies for in-house development.”