The MoU was signed between Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and Director, Garuda Aerospace Ltd, and Prahalad, General Manager – Marketing, Bharat Electronics Limited.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

New Delhi:

Aerospace industry leaders Thales and Garuda Aerospace on Tuesday announced a collaboration to promote the development of the drone ecosystem in India.

As part of the agreement, Thales will provide expertise in the field of unmanned traffic management (UTM) solutions, UAV detection and system integration, while Garuda will bring its skills in the manufacture and use of UAVs, as well as its expertise in the Indian market.

Established in 2015, Garuda Aerospace has a vast fleet of over 2,500 drones and 4,000 pilots across 400 districts.

This collaboration, said the companies, aims to foster innovation and advance the development of technological solutions that can enable safe and secure drone operations and help the growth of drone-based applications in the country.

The government is providing a robust foundation for the drone ecosystem, fostering opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and growth.

“This collaboration aligns well with the Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India) vision, and seeks to support the country in realising its ambition to become a major global hub for drones by 2030,” said Ashish Saraf, VP and Country Director, Thales in India.

Thales has built end-to-end solutions for drone integration and the development of advanced UTM systems.

The company works closely with civil aviation authorities and air navigation service providers to deliver strategic UTM capabilities, including registration, authorisation and geo-awareness.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace, said that ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched 100 Garuda drones in 100 villages, they cemented market dominance in the precision agri-drone segment, where 50 per cent of agri drones are from Garuda.

“Equipped with the largest fleet in India coupled with Thales’ UTM technology and their worldwide experience, Garuda Aerospace will aim to revolutionise the drone sector and play a key role in the transformation of India into a global drone powerhouse,” said Jayaprakash.

Present in India since 1953, Thales has over 2,200 employees in the country.

Founded in 2015 with a team of five, Garuda has scaled to a more than 200-member team. It manufactures 30 types of drones and offers 50 types of services.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Considering the faster adoption of drones for various applications, especially for agri, consumer-related and the Central Government’s policies for encouraging the manufacturing of unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs), India would soon become a global drone hub and serious players like Garuda Aerospace would drive this growth, said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO, Garuda Aerospace in an interview.

Considering the faster adoption of drones for various applications, especially for agri, consumer-related and the Central Government’s policies for encouraging the manufacturing of unmanned areal vehicles (UAVs), India would soon become a global drone hub and serious players like Garuda Aerospace would drive this growth, said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO, Garuda Aerospace in an interview.

He said India would transform into a global drone capital by 2030 given superior quality, data information security and pricing as compared to China which is now the world leader.

“This will open up export opportunities for Indian drone manufacturers. The demand for Made in India drones is significant in the global market which will in turn help Indian companies to grow faster. This sector will eventually head for consolidation and a few large companies including Garuda Aerospace will lead the sector,” he said.

Stating that the demand for drones has also increased significantly in the last few years, he said this can be attributed to several progressive policies and government schemes including loans for drones, production-linked incentive schemes and subsidies to encourage the adoption of drones for various purposes, especially for agriculture.

The company’s Drone Yatra has also helped it grow in terms of bookings of drones as a service [renting of drones on a per-hour basis] and revenues. The company which clocked revenues of ₹47 crore in the last financial year is now eyeing around ₹120 crore for this fiscal.

It has already raised US$ 22 million and recently announced cricketing personality M.S. Dhoni as its ambassador. Now the company is looking to raise around US$ 40 to 50 million next year in a pre-IPO round, he said.

Currently, the company offers 30 different types of drones across agriculture, videography, project monitoring and surveillance and over 50 different types of services and is aiming to sell at least 1 lakh drones in the next 2 years in the agriculture and consumer segment. The company, he said, has a 55% market share in the agriculture drone sector.

“We are on a mission to positively impact the lives of a billion people through training programs, services, and initiatives focused on empowering youth. As a system integrator, Garuda Aerospace is uniquely positioned with manufacturing capabilities, drones-based services and remote pilot training facilities,” the CEO said.

The company had received a dual certification from DGCA for manufacturing and training of drone pilots.

“India has around 50,000 to 60,000 registered drone pilots and the recent Drone (Amendment) Rules 2023 that allows anyone with a valid government-issued identity proof and address to enlist to become a drone pilot will further boost this number,” he said.

Garuda Aerospace has tied up with Lockheed Martin, Cognizant, and Amazon Web Services, among others to spearhead growth in India’s drone sector.

It has also entered into agreements with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., and BEML Ltd for joint manufacturing of drones to have an asset-light model for better profitability. 

Having recently been granted a subsidy under the Tamil Nadu Government’s Agricultural Mechanisation Scheme, the company believes it would revolutionise India’s agriculture ecosystem by enhancing crop productivity through use of drones.