VIJAYAWADA: The State government has appointed the Drone Federation of India (DFI) as the preferred event and knowledge partner for organising Amaravati Drone Summit 2024 at a cost of Rs 5.54 crore (exclusive of GST). Orders to this effect were issued on Monday.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on August 6, 2024, emphasised the strategic importance of promoting drone technology for problem-solving across departments and directed the AP Drone Corporation (APDC) to take the lead in organising a national-level event.
Union Minister for Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu, in his review meeting, proposed that the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) should extend technical guidance and support to the Andhra Pradesh government in organising the National Drone Conference.
The Agenda will include the development of diverse applications for drones across sectors such as agriculture, health care, urban planning and law and order as well as research and development, manufacturing, testing and policy creation.
In line with these directions, the APDC has proposed to organise a two-day national level drone conference tentatively named ‘Amaravati Drone Summit 2024’ on October 22 and 23 in Amaravati.
The expected outcome of this conference includes the identification of drone use cases and their commercialisation potential, engagement with industry stakeholders, investors and academia, preparation of a road map to establish Drone City, including components, and exploration of collaborative opportunities with investors and industry experts.
Accordingly, the APDC has invited the Drone Federation of India (DFI) to collaborate for organising the proposed two-day national level drone event in Amaravati.
The DFI in turn has submitted its initial proposal for organising the summit at a cost of Rs 6.37 crore (exclusive of GST) which includes costs for the two-day summit at CK Convention, Mangalagiri to host 500-600 delegates and guests across the industry and academia, along with cultural events at Berm Park, Vijayawada.
MoCA has been requested to sanction the proposed budget (expected after negotiations) of Rs 6 crore (exclusive of GST) as a grant-in-aid to AP Drones Corporation Limited to facilitate the organisation of the prestigious event. Later on a further site assessment, the DFI submitted a revised proposal for Rs 5.54 crore (Exclusive of GST).
The MD of Drones Corporation has urged the government to appoint the DFI as the preferred event and knowledge partner for the Ministry of Civil Aviation, GoI to organise the national event Amaravati Drone Summit 2024 for Rs 5.54 crore (exclusive of GST).