Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has issued guidelines to make drone technology affordable to the stakeholders of this sector. The guidelines of “Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization” (SMAM) have been amended which envisages granting upto 100% of the cost of agriculture drone or Rs. 10 lakhs, whichever is less, as grant for purchase of drones bythe Farm Machinery Training & Testing Institutes, ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and State Agriculture Universities for taking up large scale demonstrations of this technology on the farmers’ fields.
The detail of percent and maximum amount of subsidy is given below:
Farm Machinery Training and Testing Institutes, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and State Agriculture Universities- 100% subsidy- Rs 10 lakh maximum
Agriculture graduates establishing Custom Hiring Centers (CHCs)= 50 per cent subsidy up to ₹5 lakh
Existing CHCs or new ones, already or to be set up by cooperative society of farmers, farmer producers organizations (FPOs) and rural entrepreneurs are entitled to receive= 40 per cent subsidy (maximum ₹4 lakh).
