In a massive step towards boosting the manufacturing of indigenous drones in India, Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace, a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited), today (May 22) signed a joint development partnership deal.

COMMERCIAL BREAK
SCROLL TO CONTINUE READING

The joint partnership will enable Garuda to manufacture Advanced Precision Drones in India for various applications. These drones will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg.

Speaking about the development, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace, said, "Our Hon’ble Prime Minister's vision of achieving the milestone of 1 lakh Made in India drones by 2024 is on track. Our partnership with Naini Aerospace (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) is a natural next step for us."

Speaking about the manufacturing of drones, Jayaprakash said, "Our Drone Yatra has also been a grand success, and we have pre-booked over 7,000 drones at Rs. 4.5 lakhs each. Partnerships with PSUs are critical given the knowledge and experience they possess to scale up production."

Garuda Aerospace recently partnered with BEML at Aero India for drone manufacturing at their Mysore facility and initiated a massive indigenisation campaign.

The company has also collaborated with 120 local suppliers with the objective of reducing reliance on foreign imports of drone parts, components, and UAV subsystems.

Speaking on the partnership, R.R. Thakur, Chief Executive Officer, Naini Aerospace, said, "We are very excited to be working with Garuda Aerospace on the rapidly evolving drone sector. Our experience with the production of helicopter structures was launched on the 11th of July 2018 in a newly constructed aerostructure hangar equipped with state-of-the-art facilities."

He further said, "The first batch of helicopter structures duly cleared by the Director General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) was delivered to the helicopter division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on 22nd of November 2018. We are confident to bring in knowledge and experience to jointly develop drones along with Garuda Aerospace".

Naini Aerospace Limited (NAeL) was incorporated in December 2016 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

Naini Aerospace has a vision of sustainable manufacturing operations in the aerospace and aviation sector and is situated in the Naini industrial area of Prayagraj, developed by the UP State Industrial Development Corporation. 

The company said that its partnership with Naini Aerospace strengthens Garuda Aerospace’s leadership in India’s drone manufacturing ecosystem.

With Garuda Aerospace now having a presence in UP, delivery and access to clients across the North, West, East, and North East will become seamless.

The partnership also enables a reduction in cost given the ease of transportation.

The factory is located on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur highway, approximately 20 km from the Prayagraj city centre.

Naini, Prayagraj, is being considered for inclusion in the proposed defense industrial corridor of Uttar Pradesh.

About Garuda Aerospace

Garuda Aerospace is India’s leading drone tech start-up focused on disrupting two major multi-billion-dollar sectors, Precision Agri Tech and Industry 4.0 upgradation.

Garuda Aerospace is asset-light, recession-proof, agnostic, and focuses on eliminating labour in the agricultural field with drones focusing on the design, building, and customisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs).

Founded in 2015 with a team of 5, Garuda has scaled to a 200+ member team with the largest drone fleet in India of over 400 drones and 500 pilots operating in 84 cities. 

Garuda Aerospace manufactures 30 types of drones and offers 50 types of services.

Having served over 750 clients, including TATA, Godrej, Adani, Reliance, Swiggy, Flipkart, Delhivery, L&T, Survey of India, SAIL, NTPC, IOCL, Smart cities, Intel, Amazon, Wipro, IISC, MIT Boston, and NHAI for various projects, the company recently partnered with global giants such as Lockheed Martin, Cognizant, and Elbit Systems. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the drone yatra, where 100 drones were flagged off simultaneously across 100 villages in India.

Garuda Aerospace is the first drone company to get DGCA approvals for Type Certification and Remote Pilot Training Organisation. 

Garuda Aerospace recently created history by raising $22 million, the largest-ever Series A funding in the drone sector.