Drones and AI adoption in  Indian Construction and Mining Sites

What happened: An IBEF analysis details the adoption of AI, drones, digital twins, and IoT across India’s construction and mining operations in FY26. Drones are replacing manual inspection through 3D mapping, stockpile volume analysis, and progress monitoring.

Why it matters: By Feb 2026, India had registered 38,575 drones, certified 39,890 remote pilots, and set up 244 drone training institutes. The Drone Federation of India projects the domestic drone market at US$11.30 billion by 2030.

Industry context: Vedanta Aluminium used AI drones for blast clearance, Uttar Pradesh deployed drones for mineral volume measurement, and Eastern Coalfields applied AI drones for land reclamation mapping. Policy support covers  the Drone Rules 2021, the IndiaAI initiative, and Ministry of Mines technology programmes.

Our take: Adoption is shifting from periodic surveys to continuous monitoring, feeding drone data into AI models for scheduling and  comprehensive compliance.

Source: IBEF