Drone start-up Garuda Aerospace has teamed up with over 120 domestic companies to achieve complete indigenization of the drone industry. This initiative will bolster the ‘Make In India’ initiative, supporting local manufacturers and companies producing batteries, motors, and 75 other components required for drone production.
Garuda Aerospace will collaborate with its partners through joint ventures, technology transfers, supplier arrangements, and investments to help local manufacturers meet the growing demand for Made In India drones in a bid to make India a global drone hub by 2030.
Some partnerships include central government and public sector undertakings like Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML) and state government bodies like Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Limited (TIDCO).
Valdel, a supplier to Idea Forge and Adani-backed General Aeronautics and Vector Technics, has also agreed to partner with Garuda Aerospace to supply drone components.
Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace, stated, “The recent discovery of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir has presented opportunities for Garuda Aerospace to use lithium-ion or lithium polymer batteries, the primary power source for drones. The global drone parts and components market is currently dominated by China, with 80 per cent of parts originating from the country. India aims to reduce its dependence on China and become self-reliant.”
Founded in 2015 with a team of five, Garuda Aerospace raised $22 million in a Series A funding. It has scaled to a 200-strong team with over 400 drones and 500 pilots operating in 84 cities.
Manufacturing 30 types of drones and offering 50 types of services, it received the Dual DGCA certifications of both Type Certificate for manufacturing and RPTO for training drone pilots.