A drone filming permission in India has two layers: the applicable DGCA and Digital Sky aviation requirements, and the separate permission of the property or authority controlling the filming location. A drone filming permit in India, in the sense producers use the phrase, is the combination of the two, and neither substitutes for the other. This page sets out what each layer covers under the Drone Rules, 2021 and the Digital Sky platform, which location permissions sit alongside them, where a drone shoot is unlikely to be feasible, and what to confirm before a call sheet is issued. Rules and zone maps change; check the current position on Digital Sky before every shoot.
Drone Filming Permission in India: What Needs Approval
The aviation layer is governed by the Drone Rules, 2021, made under the Aircraft Act and administered by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation through the Digital Sky platform. It covers the aircraft, the operator and the pilot, and it answers one question: may this drone fly in this airspace? The location layer is governed by whoever controls the ground: a private owner, a municipal body, the Archaeological Survey of India at a protected monument, a forest or wildlife authority in a protected area, or the police where a public place or event is involved. It answers a different question: may this production film here at all, and with a drone?
Productions go wrong by treating one as the other. An airspace check that comes back green does not permit filming over a monument or inside a sanctuary, and a location permit that mentions a drone does not clear the airspace. The two are run in parallel, and the drone is only on the call sheet when both are in hand.
Check the Digital Sky Airspace Map Before Locking a Location
The rules divide Indian airspace for drone operations into three zones, published as an interactive map on Digital Sky. A green zone is airspace up to 400 feet above ground level that has not been designated red or yellow, and up to 200 feet in the band between 8 and 12 kilometres from an operational airport’s perimeter; above those heights the yellow-zone provisions apply. A yellow zone is controlled airspace in which drone operations are restricted and need permission from the relevant air traffic control authority. A red zone is airspace in which drone operations are permitted only in exceptional circumstances by the Central Government.
Three consequences follow for a shoot. No drone may be operated in a red or yellow zone without prior permission. A pilot is required to verify the platform for restrictions in the intended area before every flight, and the map is dynamic: the government can change an area’s zone with effect after seven days, and a state government or law-enforcement agency can declare a temporary red zone for up to 48 hours at a time. So the airspace status of a location is checked when it is scouted, checked again when it is locked, and checked on the day. The national UTM policy framework describes how permissions are intended to be handled through the platform; this page does not promise how long any permission takes or whether it will be granted.
Aircraft, Operator and Pilot Requirements
The rules classify drones by all-up weight: nano up to 250 grams, micro up to 2 kilograms, small up to 25 kilograms, medium up to 150 kilograms and large above that. Camera drones used on film shoots are usually micro or small. Requirements confirmed against the rules as published:
- The aircraft must be of a type that holds the applicable airworthiness or type certification, or be exempt; nano drones are exempt from certification.
- The aircraft must carry a unique identification number generated on Digital Sky, linked to its serial numbers, unless exempt.
- The pilot must hold a valid remote pilot credential enlisted on Digital Sky (issued as a remote pilot licence under the 2021 rules and later termed a remote pilot certificate), specific to the class of drone flown, ordinarily valid for ten years subject to refresher requirements. The micro-drone exemption is limited to non-commercial use; a professional film shoot should confirm its classification and applicable requirements with the operator.
- Third-party insurance for drones is treated under the rules by applying the Motor Vehicles Act provisions, with nano drones exempt; confirm the cover the operator carries.
- Mandatory safety features are those the Central Government notifies from time to time; confirm the current list with the operator rather than assuming a fixed set.
For a production the practical test is simple: the operator engaged for the shoot should be able to show the aircraft’s registration, the pilot’s credential for that class of drone, and the insurance, before the recce, not on the day.
Location Permissions That Sit Alongside Aviation Approval
The location layer follows the normal Indian filming-permission structure, with the drone declared in the application. On private property the owner’s written consent covers the take-off site and the ground being filmed. Depending on the site and shoot conditions, the relevant local authority, police, ASI, forest or wildlife authority may require the drone to be declared and may set additional conditions. In a forest, sanctuary or national park the forest or wildlife authority decides, and drone use over protected areas is restricted in many cases; the permission route is set out on our forest and wildlife filming permissions page. How the national and state filming-permission system fits together is covered under film permissions in India.
Each of these authorities can attach conditions to a drone: hours, height, distance from structures or animals, or a requirement for an escort. Those conditions apply in addition to the airspace rules, and the more restrictive of the two governs the shoot.
Airport, Defence and Other Sensitive Locations
Some locations should be treated as feasibility questions rather than applications. Airspace around operational airports is yellow or red under the rules, and a shot on or near airport property needs both air-traffic permission and the airport operator’s own filming approval; the application route is on our airport filming in India page. Defence installations, border areas, strategic infrastructure and locations the Central Government has designated red are places where a drone is unlikely to be permitted for a commercial shoot at all, and a production that needs the shot should plan an alternative rather than wait on an application.
The honest planning rule is that a red-zone location is a no unless the Central Government says otherwise, a yellow-zone location is a maybe that depends on air traffic control, and only a green-zone location with the landowner’s consent is a planning assumption. Helicopter or ground-based alternatives are costed at the same time, not after a refusal.
Foreign Productions and Imported Drone Equipment
A foreign production filming in India already works within the national film-permission framework for its shoot. For the drone specifically, two points matter. First, the aircraft flown in India must meet the registration and certification requirements above and be flown by a pilot holding the Indian remote pilot credential for its class; whether a visiting operator can obtain that credential, or whether the production engages an Indian licensed operator, is confirmed with the operator and the current DGCA guidance rather than assumed either way.
Second, the import of drones and components is regulated by the Directorate General of Foreign Trade, and India has restricted the import of drones since 2022 with limited exceptions, so a plan to bring a production’s own aircraft in under a carnet should be checked against the current import policy before it is relied on. A production can assess whether engaging an Indian operator with appropriately registered aircraft and qualified pilots is the most workable route before committing to equipment travel.
Drone Shoot Checklist Before a Call Sheet Is Issued
- Location coordinates for each take-off point and each area to be overflown, not just the address.
- Current Digital Sky airspace status for those coordinates, with any yellow-zone permission obtained and any temporary red zone checked on the day.
- Aircraft registration and certification status, the pilot’s credential for that class of drone, and the operator’s insurance, all sighted.
- Written consent of the land controller for take-off, landing and overflight, and the location permit stating that a drone is in use.
- Shoot-specific restrictions from the location authority: hours, height, distances, escorts, and any monument, forest or police conditions.
- A documentation set kept with the production file: permissions, airspace check records and the operator’s credentials, ready for any inspection or insurer request.
A production that cannot tick every line does not fly that day. Where the permissions run across several authorities, our film permit compliance services team runs the aviation and location tracks together so that the drone arrives with both layers cleared.
