It’s no secret that there’s a deluge of Chinese-made drones in India but domestic drone makers are fighting back, vying to reclaim lost turf. "Our drones are not just more efficient than their Chinese counterparts, but also more secure for the country," Vishal Saxena, vice president of surveillance and mapping at ideaForge, an Indian drone maker, told MediaNama. He also told us that a major reason why we should be wary of Chinese drones is because they are primarily in the business of "data arbitrage". Saxena was speaking to us after his company recently started buying back drones which aren’t compliant with India’s drone regulations in exchange for a compliant drone that they make in-house, called Ninja UAV. At least five people from the drone industry have told us that most of these non-compliant drones, which don't support the currently mandated no permission, no takeoff (NPNT) protocol, were imported from China. “We got a lot of hits on our website about drones made in India, which are also compliant with the no permission, no take off (NPNT) protocol, as mandated in current drone regulations,” Saxena told us when we asked why they started this program. “Private surveyors are worried about using Chinese made drones. What if the government tomorrow comes out with an ordinance outlawing all Chinese drones?” he asked. His statement comes amid heightened tensions between India and China, where deadly clashes along the Indo-China border have led to a ban on 59 'Chinese' apps, and many companies in the…
