New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) granted conditional exemption to agriculture ministry for flying drones to assess crop yields at gram panchayat level under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY).

"The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Directorate General of Civil Aviation have granted conditional exemption for Remotely Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS) usage to Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW)," Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement on Friday.

The conditional exemption will be valid for one year from the date of issue of the permission letter or until the operationalisation of the Digital Sky Platform, whichever is earlier.

This exemption shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations are strictly adhered to, it said.

While conditional exemption has been given to MoAFW, it still needs to obtain necessary clearances from the local administration, the defence ministry, home ministry, Indian Air Force and Airports Authority of India, the statement added.

UNI SV SHK1958