Drone rules in India

India's Drone Rules 2021 set out a risk-based system administered through the Digital Sky online platform: drones are classified by weight, with lighter categories (historically including nano drones under 250g) facing lighter registration requirements, and heavier drones needing a Unique Identification Number and, for commercial or larger operations, additional operator permissions. The country is also divided into red, yellow and green zones for flight permission purposes, with green zones generally requiring no clearance and red and yellow zones requiring permission through Digital Sky before each flight.

Because drone regulation is an area that genuinely changes — thresholds, zone maps and the permission process have all been updated over time — we treat everything on this page as a starting framework only, and recommend confirming the current rules through the Digital Sky platform or a licensed local drone operator before you travel, not relying on any single source, including this page.

• Foreign nationals and foreign-registered drones have historically faced additional restrictions and required specific clearance through the Ministry of Home Affairs or equivalent process before flying in India at all — check the current requirement before you travel.
• No-fly zones apply around airports, international borders, military installations and many government and defence sites, and are strictly enforced.
• Many individual monuments, including the Taj Mahal, prohibit drone flight entirely, regardless of the zone the site sits within.
• Penalties for unauthorised drone flight can be significant, including confiscation of the drone and legal consequences — this is not an area to take an informal approach to.

If aerial photography matters to your trip, tell us before you travel and we will help you understand the current rules for your specific itinerary and check whether a permission process applies to your situation, and point you toward the current official guidance rather than relying on general information that may be out of date by the time you fly. For most travellers, the simplest and safest approach is to check directly with the Digital Sky platform (the government's official portal) well before your trip, and to have a clear, current answer for each specific location on your itinerary rather than assuming any location is fine.