Can you fly a drone on a Himalayan ride? India's drone rules for riders

Short answer: in most of India you can, if your drone is a sub-250g nano, you stay below 400 feet, and you are in a green zone on the Digital Sky airspace map. You cannot in Leh district, where the District Magistrate prohibited drone flying by locals, tourists and private persons on 8 May 2025, and that order runs until further notice. Border areas, airports and defence installations sit in red or yellow zones where you need permission before you take off, not after.

That is the part most ride videos quietly skip. Here is how the paperwork and the geography actually work.

What the Drone Rules 2021 ask of you

The rules sort drones by all-up weight. Nano is up to 250 grams, micro is above 250 grams up to 2 kg, small is up to 25 kg, and it climbs from there. Almost every travel drone a rider carries is nano or micro by this measure, and the 250 gram line is the one worth shopping around.

Rule 13(2) says no type certificate is needed for a nano drone or a model remotely piloted aircraft system. Rule 36 says no remote pilot licence is needed for a nano drone, or for a micro drone flown for non-commercial purposes. Rule 14(1) is the one riders misread: no person shall operate a drone without first registering it on the Digital Sky platform and getting a unique identification number, unless exempted. If you are in any doubt about your category or your intent, register it. The fee is small.

Fees under the rules are ₹100 for issuing, transferring or deregistering a UIN, ₹100 for issuing or renewing a remote pilot licence, and ₹100 for a type certificate. An authorisation for a remote pilot training organisation is ₹1,000. The cost of flying legally in India is not the government fee. It is the drone.

Where you cannot fly, whatever your paperwork says

Rule 22(1) is blunt: no drone in a red zone or a yellow zone without prior permission. Green zone flying is allowed up to 400 feet, or 120 metres. In the band 8 km to 12 km from an airport perimeter, green only runs to 200 feet, or 60 metres. Above that, it is yellow and needs air traffic control clearance.

Then there are local orders, which override your Digital Sky green patch. The Leh order was issued by District Magistrate Santosh Sukhadeve citing credible inputs and security concerns, covers the entire jurisdiction of Leh district, and asks the public to report sightings to the police control room or 112. Violations draw legal action. Before any Ladakh, Arunachal or Rann trip, ring the district police and ask whether a prohibitory order is live. Do not ask a hotel.

What the creators actually carry

Noraly Schoenmaker of Itchy Boots, probably the most watched solo adventure rider online, has run a deliberately simple kit. For season 5 she listed a DJI Mavic Air, chosen because it is small enough to fit in her tank bag, plus a GoPro Hero 9 for riding shots, a GoPro Max for 360 work, and a GoPro Mediamod to run an external mic. By season 6 the description was still GoPro for riding and DJI for droning, with an SSD for footage and a laptop running Final Cut Pro.

That is the lesson for an Indian rider. Weight and bulk decide what you fly, and so does the category you want to stay inside. One small drone, two action cameras and a hard drive will out-film a big rig you leave in the hotel because the next 200 km is a red zone.

Sources

• Drone Rules, 2021 (full text)
• DC Leh prohibits flying of drones and unmanned aerial vehicles, Voice of Ladakh
• Itchy Boots: Gear and equipment for season 5
• Itchy Boots: Gear and equipment season 6