UDAAN programme was launched by the collaboration of Startup Incubation and Innovation Center at  Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur today. The programme is a step toward boosting and strengthing  the drone startups in India. UAV/UAS/Drone Acceleration and Networking programme is an initiative taken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and the Drone Federation of India. 

This step was taken by Indian Government to accelerate drone startups and provide them with  expertise help, resources and scaling up their business. This scheme will select 20 drone startups a year in two cohorts and help them in scaling their business while meeting market demands. These  startups will be settling at SIIC, IIT Kanpur and gain access to technical support, mentorship, financing,  and cutting-edge R&D facilities. The professor in charge of SIIC, Ankush Sharma mentioned that  UDAAN will help drone startups to access world-class mentorship and resources which will help in  growth of Indian UAV industry. 

This scheme will also help these startups to enhance their programming and technical advancements to become market ready. The strategic product, business development assistance, market analysis,  alliance building, and growth plan development will be included in the programme. This collaboration between SIIC and IIT Kanpur will allow Indian startups to have access to best-in-class testing facilities  at drone CoE including the Helicopter and VTOL lab, and the National Wind Tunnel Facility. 

The top six startups in each cohort will get fellowship support of Rs 3 lakh per year for innovation and  growth of the company. The interested startups need to register as startup with DPIIT working in drone  industry and focus on design, testing, and technical consultancy. Only those drone startups can register whose annual turnover is less than Rs 3 crore. The form to register for the UDAAN programme is said  to be opened until June 20. The drone market in India is expected to grow in size and reach the $13  billion by 2030.

Conclusion: 

The Startup Incubation and Innovation center at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur today launched  a drone startup focused programme UDAAN. This collaboration of SIIC and IIT Kanpur with UP  government will change the landscape of Drone industry in India. UAV/UAS/Drone Acceleration and  Networking programme is an initiative taken by the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and the Drone  Federation of India. This scheme will select 20 drone startups a year in two cohorts and help them in  scaling their business while meeting market demands.

These startups will be settling at SIIC, IIT Kanpur  and gain access to technical support, mentorship, financing, and cutting-edge R&D facilities. This  collaboration between SIIC and IIT Kanpur will allow Indian startups to have access to best-in-class  testing facilities at drone CoE including the Helicopter and VTOL labs. The top six startups in each  cohort will get fellowship support of Rs 3 lakh per yearfor innovation and growth of the company. Only  those drone startups whose annual turnover is less than Rs 3 crore can register till June 20^th.