Adani's joint venture company with Israeli firm Elbit as well as IdeaForge Technology are among the 14 drone companies that have been selected as beneficiaries of the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to boost drone manufacturing in India, the aviation ministry told.

Under the PLI scheme that was announced last year, the incentive for a manufacturer of drones and drone components will be 20 per cent of the “value addition” made by the company during the next three years.

The value addition is calculated as the annual sales revenue from drones and drone components (net of GST) minus the purchase cost (net of GST) of drone and drone components.

On Wednesday, the ministry released the names of 14 drone companies selected as beneficiaries of the PLI scheme.

Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, IdeaForge Technology, IoTechWorld Aviation, Omnipresent Robot Technologies and Raphe Mphibr are five drone manufacturers selected as beneficiaries, it mentioned.

Absolute Composites, Adani-Elbit Advanced Systems India, Adroitec Information Systems, Alpha Design Technologies, Inventgrid India, Paras Aerospace, SASMOS HET Technologies, ZMotion Autonomous Systems and Zuppa Geo Navigation Technologies are nine drone component manufacturers selected for the PLI scheme, it noted.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation had on March 10 invited applications from the drone industry for the PLI scheme.

The ministry had on September 16, 2021, announced a PLI scheme for drones and drone components with an allocation of Rs 120 crore spread over three financial years.

The ministry said on Wednesday: “The list of beneficiaries is likely to be expanded further since some more manufacturers are likely to exceed the eligibility criteria for the full financial year 2021-22."

"The final list of PLI beneficiaries is expected to be released by June 30 after detailed scrutiny of their financial results and other specified documents," it mentioned.

The ministry said the eligibility criteria for the PLI scheme includes an annual sales turnover of Rs 2 crore for drone companies and Rs 50 lakh for drone components manufacturers; and value addition of over 40 per cent of sales turnover.

The PLI scheme came in September 2021 as a follow-through of the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021, released by the ministry on August 25, 2021.

Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia had on September 16, 2021 said that the Indian drone industry will have a total turnover of up to Rs 15,000 crore by 2026 as the government has given a major boost to the sector with the PLI scheme.