India, May 4 -- The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-B) has been appointed to lead the central government's 'Pushpak - National Mission on Drone Technology', which promotes the development of indigenous drone technology across various sectors.

The mission, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has a grant-in-aid of Rs.82.7 crore and includes seven premier institutes, each with a specific focus area relating to drone technology. The mission officially commenced a few weeks ago and will span four years.

In addition to IIT-B, the other participating institutions include: CDAC-Thiruvananthapuram, CDAC-Bengaluru, IIT-Gandhinagar, IISER-Bhopal, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI) Mum...