Page 33 - Insurance Times February 2021

see proactive usage of drones in activities like mining, providing third-party liability in a range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs
construction, surveillance, transport, fire-fighting, law 20 lakh cover along with optional hull cover. Globally, drones
enforcement, agricultural and topographical data are classified as an 'aircraft' and the aviation regulators have
acquisition, insurance assessments, media and stepped in to regulate the sector. The insurer should pay
entertainment. Tata AIG General Insurance Company was the sum assured in the event of bodily injury resulting in
the insurance presenter at the festival and showcased its death of the insured beneficiary within 12 months of such
readiness to cater to the insurance and risk management bodily injury being sustained.
requirements of drone manufacturers, suppliers, buyers,
owners and operators. The company will also, in addition to the sun assured, pay
up to two per cent of the sum assured or Rs 5,000
BVLOS drone insurance coverage to (whichever is lower) towards the cost of transporting
Asteria Aerospace: the mortal remains of the insured/ authorized operator from
the place of death to the hospital/ residence and/or
State-owned general insurer National Insurance Company cremation and/or burial ground. In the event of bodily injury
has issued the country''s first beyond visual line of sight resulting in permanent total disability of the insured/
(BVLOS) drone insurance coverage to Asteria Aerospace, a authorized operator within 12 months of such Injury being
manufacturer and operator of unmanned aerial vehicles. sustained, the company will pay 125 per cent of the sum
National Insurance is providing the coverage through Itus assured.
Insurance Brokers using deep-tech startup TropoGo's
platform. TropoGo, which specializes in risk assessment of Drone Market Size in India:
aerial mobility, has worked closely with the insurance player
in offering the product. India's commercial drone market witnessed substantial
growth in the past few years on account of increasing
BVLOS drone operations are the next frontier in drone- awareness, technological advancement, and growing
technology to deliver multiple mass benefit use cases like adoption across several verticals such as mining, filming &
agriculture, disaster management, healthcare, photography, and agriculture in the country. The outbreak
infrastructure monitoring, among others. The insurance of COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of drones in
coverage is to safeguard the risk of any loss or damage to India. Additionally, government initiatives such as the Make
third-party due to any accident during the test flights. The in India, which promotes the domestic manufacturing of
insurance coverage is exclusively designed for Asteria's drones, will further fuel the growth of the commercial drone
DGCA approved consortium to conduct 100 hours of BVLOS market in India during the forecast period.
test flights in a pre-defined airspace approved by the According to this research, India's commercial drone market
Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
is projected to grow at a CAGR of 12.4% during 2020-2026.
Based on types, rotary blade drones dominated the India
A consortium includes drone operators, unified traffic commercial drone market share in 2019 owing to its special
management (UTM) providers, among others. The DGCA has advantage of vertical landing and take-off. Also, they could
approved 20 drone consortia, including Asteria Aerospace, hover at one particular point and are best suited for short-
for conducting BVLOS drone trials in a sandboxed range applications. However, significant growth is recorded
environment. Besides Asteria Aerospace, National Insurance in fixed-wing drones on account of its simple structure and
is also providing similar coverage to the DunzoAir longer duration at high speed. Commercial drones are widely
consortium.
accepted and implemented across several verticals.
Salient features of Drone Insurance: However, mapping & surveying holds the majority of
With the growth in the use of drones, some insurers in the revenue share due to high accuracy and quality provided by
country are offering drones cover through existing products such drones with relatively less manpower and low cost.
and extending some covers as and when required. One Also, recently, the government of India has employed drones
insurer has launched third-party liability cover of Rs 10 lakh for 3D digital mapping for road widening in the Allahabad
through one of the tech firms on "Pay as you Fly" basis highway. Further, filming & photography application has also
where a drone operator can choose a flying option - up to registered significant share in India commercial drone
four hours, one day and one Month. Some insurers are market 2019.

The Insurance Times, February 2021