Strengthens ‘Make in India’ programme; offers free training in drone operations
Paras Aerospace, a subsidiary of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited, has announced that it will shortly unveil an indigenously developed affordable multi-spectral camera for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for applications in agriculture, urban development and forest survey.
The company, which is participating in Aero India 2021, offers a wide range of UAV integrations and UAV-based services in Aerial Mapping & Surveying, GIS and Infrastructure. The company is led by Mr. Pankaj Akula, an Ex- Principal Scientist in Aerospace with various distinctions including the Best Scientist Award from National Aerospace Laboratories and a Gold Medal from IIT Kanpur. At present, UAVs with High end multi-spectral cameras of international make are priced at INR 15 lakhs and above. Paras has embarked on a mission to reduce the selling price by INR 12 lakhs by indigenously developing the multi-spectral cameras to ensure that they are used by a wide range of consumers, including farmers.
Pankaj Akula, CEO of Paras Aerospace, said, “UAVs have wider applications in the industrial and civilian sectors beyond the traditional military sector. Today, UAV-based services are used in highway mapping, urban planning, construction monitoring, maintenance of airports, dams, energy sector, forestry, and plant Inspection. In fact, UAV-based services can be extended to even the farm sector to assist farmers. However, the costs are still high. Hence, we are indigenously developing Agri cameras at an estimated sale price of less than Rs 3 lakhs per unit.”
Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited has extensive experience in optics and opto-mechanical assemblies, working for various projects of ISRO, BEL and DRDO. Satellite Imagery is a source that is being used for Agri mapping but the limitations associated with Pricing for higher resolution images, and cloud coverage limit the full utility. Paras is offering an affordable alternative aerial mapping using UAVs for Agri Applications that can be flown under the clouds with higher resolution using low-cost multi-spectral cameras.
“The government intends to make India the drone capital of the world. We want to play a significant role in this initiative. We also believe in Aatma Nirbhar Bharat to cater to the local and International market. Our products will be shortly available in the market,” Pankaj added.
Free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Drone Operations Management for students
In view of a growing demand for drone/UAV operators in India, Paras announced the launch of Free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) in Drone Operations Management for students. The government estimate for drones in the country is 40,000 and expects the number to reach one million in five years. That will require some very large number of drone pilots estimate to be around 5 lakhs in next 5 years. The present-day Drone Pilot Trainings are costing in between thirty thousand to one lakh rupees and Drone Operations Management courses costing around Five Thousand Rupees. The Paras group is targeting to make this cost to zero.
Munjal Shah, Managing Director of Paras Defence and Space Technologies Limited, said, “As a CSR activity, we have decided to provide free training to students in Drone Operations Management from Industry Leading Experts like Pankaj Akula who is an Ex-Principal Scientist. Trainers like Pankaj and other very experienced people from team of Paras will help in the creation of Quality Courses to the students. The courses will be created and moderated by staff having Doctorate degrees from IIT Kanpur. The cost of education online and online certification will be borne by the company. The cost of conduct of courses, examination and certification in Drone Operations Management will be provided free of cost to the students. The Company is in discussion with some State Governments to setup Training Schools aimed at providing the Pilot Flight skill training at zero cost. The intention of Paras is to enable Skill India with no cost to students thereby contributing to the employment generation in the country. The students will be trained with State of Art Technologies in the field of UAV with experience of Experts from Paras who have project experience with best Aerospace Companies in India and the world.”
Paras Aerospace commenced registration for the online course at Aero India 2021 via their link www.parasaerospace.com/training. Sequential batches of aspiring drone pilots will be extensively trained in Drones Operation Management. The course material will include:
