CM Naidu aiming to make Andhra drone capital of India Official

Amaravati, Oct 21 (PTI) Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu is aiming to make Andhra Pradesh the drone capital of the country and position it as a leader in this realm, said an official on Monday.
    The southern state is organising a two-day mega drone summit from October 22 at Mangalagiri in Guntur district, which is a part of the greenfield capital city.
    "The chief minister's vision is to make the state the drone capital of the country, and this summit is being organised in alignment with that goal," said S Suresh Kumar, director of state investments and infrastructure department, addressing a press conference at the secretariat.
    Observing that extensive arrangements were made for the summit, Kumar noted that Chandrababu Naidu and Union Civil Aviation Minister K Ram Mohan Naidu will inaugurate the summit on Tuesday.
    Several senior officials and experts from the drone industry will participate in the marquee event, featuring participants in the four categories of delegates, drone hackathon participants, drone exhibition participants and speakers.
    As many as 7,000 people have come forward to register for the summit.
    "Due to overwhelming response, we had to stop registrations two days ago. A total of 221 applications were received for exhibitions, but due to space constraints we cut them short to 50. We confirmed 1,711 people as delegates and 1,306 as visitors," said the senior IAS officer.
    According to Kumar, drones can be deployed in 24 sectors, and added that the southern state will ink two agreements during the summit with Quality Council of India (QCI) and IIT Tirupati.
    Andhra Pradesh Drone Corporation chairman and managing director K Dinesh Kumar said that a mega drone show with 5,500 drones will be held at Punnami Ghat in Vijayawada on Tuesday between 6.30 pm and 8.30 pm.
    "Arrangements have been made for over 8,000 people to sit and watch, and digital screens have been set up at various locations in the city to broadcast the drone show and the summit live," he said.
    Meanwhile, CM Naidu directed officials to conduct the summit in such a fashion that the state develops in this field.
    The chief minister called on officials to ensure that youth and students mark a high participation in the summit while college and school students are enabled to thoroughly enjoy the exhibitions.
    Further, he instructed officials to explore the possible use of drones in government departments, including forming a committee of senior officials from the departments where it is possible.
    "Though some counties are using drones in warfare, we will use them for development. Using drones in farming can achieve wonders such as conducting soil tests, estimating the harvest and selectively targeting the spots in a field where there is infestation¦," said Naidu during a review of the Andhra Pradesh Drone Corporation, on the eve of the summit, a release said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)