IGRUA Announces the Center's First Drone Pilot Training Program

A first-of-its-kind initiative by a government body, the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), a center-run flight training institution, announced on Saturday that it would start offering drone pilot training courses as part of its expansion plan.

Recently, Drone Destination, a private company based in Delhi, and the top aviation training facility in Uttar Pradesh signed an agreement to work together.

Drone manufacturing is becoming a reality in India, according to Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA) Secretary Pradeep Singh Kharola, who called it a "completely fresh and growing industry with infinite potential and opportunity."

The software revolution was started by us, and the drone revolution will be led by us as well. We have made a little move in that direction. The first is that even drone operations require pilots, and IGRUA is setting up one of the first drone training facilities, according to Kharola.

He added that it would be difficult to supervise the hundreds of thousands of drones that could be flying in Indian sky in the upcoming years.

The difficulty is making sure that we not only become industry leaders in drone manufacture, but also in their administration, according to Kharola.

He also suggested that IGRUA, a government-run autonomous institute, expand its scope beyond training drone pilots to include drone manufacturing, design, and management.

Kharola was speaking during the 36th foundation day of IGRUA, and she was joined by MOCA Joint Secretary Amber Dubey.

Drone pilot training will soon start at the institute's site in Amethi's Fursatganj, according to IGRUA Director Krishnendu Gupta.

In order to train the candidates, IGRUA will contribute its resources, while Drone Destination will contribute its drone-related expertise, according to Gupta.

He stated that the institute would shortly start a programme on English Language Proficiency and that the course would last roughly two weeks (ELP)