Chinese drones without ‘Type Certification’ are prohibited from import as well as their usage
| Photo Credit:
PTI
Overlooking the ban imposed on Chinese drones since 2021, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has registered more than 8,700 Chinese drones till date.
The official website (https://digitalsky.dgca.gov.in/issued_uins) gives status of registration of drones meant only for civilian, police and central armed police force (CAPFs) usages. On typing Da-Jiang Innovation (DJI, a Chinese drone company) on the landing page, the website throws details of Chinese drones like the serial number, name of the owner, UIN, type, weight, among others. On searching under “UAS Model Name” column, “DJI MI NI 2” appears, which is a banned Chinese drone.
The illegally imported DJI drones carry DGCA provided unique identification numbers (UINs). The widespread grant of UINs and availability of imported Chinese drones allow China continuous access to countrywide geo-tagged images and videos, defeating the purpose of banning the use of these flying objects for civilian and military purposes.
Drone Rules, 2021
Significantly, they carry UINs but without ‘Type Certification’ which is a technical and safety evaluation of drones carried out by the DGCA. The Drone Rules, 2021, state that the UINs will be issued only to drones that are type certified by them.
Any drone other than nano and model drones is required to undergo Type Certification. The “model drone category,” originally introduced to support educational, recreational, and R&D use, is limited to drones under “25 kilograms” and must be operated strictly “within visual line of sight.”
Mostly this clause is being used by buyers to circumvent the law and get DGCA registration.
Most of these drones are used for commercial purposes, sold and advertised openly on e-commerce platforms, social media, and even in popular physical retail markets across major Indian cities.
While Indian drone manufacturers are required to go through the Type Certification process which costs lakhs of rupees and almost a year, owners of smuggled Chinese DJI drones can obtain an UIN from the DGCA in a matter of a few days, a leading drone developer said.
Chinese drones
This proliferation of Chinese imported drones violates Drone Rules, 2021, which mandate that “all drones, including nano drones” (up to a certain weight category) must be registered prior to operation but exempts those that are meant for the R&D.
It also contravenes a notification issued by the DGFT on February 9,2022, banning import of Chinese drone in any form, be it completely built unit (CBU), semi-knocked down (SKD) kit, or completely knocked down (CKD) kit.
Speaking to businessline, a government official said the matter will be taken up at an inter-ministerial meeting headed by the Home Secretary on July 29, 2025.
Smit Shah, President of Drone Federation of India (DFI), said the Federation has been actively pursuing this matter with the central government for over six months.
“This impacts India’s security, technological advancement, and domestic industry demand immediate and decisive attention,” Shah said.
Published on July 27, 2025
