Manning India: Unmanned Aerial Drones Gain Visibility

Rajneesh De, Consulting Editor, APAC News Network

The market for drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in India has grown exponentially in recent years. This has been driven primarily by the advancements in technology, changing consumer preferences, increased adoption across different sectors, and supportive government policies. These factors even negated the worldwide supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic and the geopolitical upheaval that had brought many market sectors to a standstill.

Analyzing the Growth of the Indian Drone Market

The proof of the pudding is in the numbers itself. The Indian drone market touched Rs 8,505 crore in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 18% to reach Rs 23,013 crore by 2028. Contrast this with the global numbers. The worldwide drone industry was pegged at $3.64 billion in 2022 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 20% reaching $51.4 billion in 2027 and $ 91.3 billion by 2030. 

There has been a big surge in drone usage in India over the years and that has clearly reflected in the investments too. The investments in Indian drone companies touched $50 million in FY23 across 20 rounds compared to $25 million across 23 rounds in FY22, as per data from Tracxn Technologies. The government policies, market demand, regulatory support, and technological capabilities have all favorably aligned to create an environment conducive for the growth of the drone industry.

The commercial applications of drones in India have expanded significantly in 2023. The agriculture sector has been a key adopter, leveraging UAVs for precision agriculture, crop monitoring, and pesticide spraying. With India still being primarily an agrarian economy, the usage of drones has naturally multiplied in agriculture. Drones having sophisticated sensors and imaging technology provide farmers with real-time data and actionable insights. This in turn enhances crop yield and reduces environmental impact. 

Another key growth sector has been the logistics and e-commerce industries. These companies have embraced drones for their last-mile delivery, especially in the urban and semi-urban areas. The efficiency and the speed of drone deliveries have benefited these companies for meeting customer demands while reducing the transportation costs at the same time.

The construction and the infrastructure sectors have also witnessed a tremendous surge in the usage of drones for mapping and surveying applications. Drones help in more accurate survey of large areas. The way they capture high-resolution images has made construction planning and progress monitoring more efficient and cost-effective. Survey-grade drones with Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provide precise geospatial data, and this subsequently reduces manual labor and enhances project management.

Using drones for surveillance and security purposes has gained momentum in both government and the private sectors. Government agencies, law enforcement, police forces and private security organizations today employ drones for monitoring critical infrastructure, disaster response, and crowd management. Large political gatherings, sporting events to even melas and fairs, the ability to cover large areas quickly and obtain aerial perspectives makes drones indispensable for public safety and security.

There has been widespread drone adoption in the military and defense sector too due to the growing incidences of cross-border terrorist activities and illegal trespassing in the country. Both the Army as well as the paramilitary forces like BSF, ITBP, CRPF among others are significant drone adopters in 2023. Often in hostile and relatively inaccessible terrains, drones have proved to be immensely beneficial for defence surveiilance.

There has been an increasing drone demand also due to the growing popularity of aerial photography, especially in the TV broadcast as well as the Indian film sector. Live cricket matches extensively use drone technology today while even films are intelligently leveraging drone shots. Add to it, the rising enthusiasm to capture videos and photographs from a birds-eye view which is also propelling the market growth.

Dissecting the Indian Drone Ecosystem

There is a growing trend in 2023 towards creating an integrated drone ecosystem. This involves drone manufacturers, sub-system and component manufacturers, software developers, service providers, and regulators. What this approach achieves is to establish a comprehensive industry capable of catering to diverse sectors, applications, and business models.

Accordingly the Indian drone market can be categorized based on type, component, payload, point of sale and end use industry. The detailed categorization can be captured in the table below.

Based on type, Fixed wing drones has garnered a major market share of about 44%. This is because fixed-wing drones have a flexible flying time, range, and speed which are ideal for military, surveillance, and other emerging applications.  

Based on application, there is higher demand for mapping and surveying which comprises numerous uses of drones ranging from large-scale mapping, urban modeling, defense monitoring, etc.

Based on payload, the key market share is occupied by Microdrones that carry a weight of more than 250gm but less than 2 kg.. The reason for this demand is its quick navigation and the benefits of high communication range operations. Moreover, the less weight is an added advantage.

Government Push for Drones

The Indian government has in recent years been actively encouraging the indigenous manufacturing of drones and related components through initiatives like the PLI scheme and import bans. The emphasis on indigenous manufacturing has aligned perfectly with the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative.  This aims to reduce import dependence and enhance the quality and safety standards of made-in-India drones.

There is an increasing emphasis on safety and regulations with the growing use of drones. The Indian government has accordingly implemented the Drone Rules 2021 to ensure responsible and safe drone usage. These regulatory frameworks are crucial to facilitate the smooth operations of civil drone activities, while addressing the safety concerns at the same time.

The “Make in India” initiative of the Indian government aims to promote indigenous manufacturing through the formation of joint ventures in the UAV sector. There are also numerous Indian startups that have entered this drone market. Many government Indian state governments have also crafted unique drone policies to attract investments in this sector.  

The Indian government through the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) is quite keen to provide various facilities to the regional players. To achieve the government’s aim to become a global hub for drones, the India drone market needs to focus on Intellectual property (IP) taking the technology built-in India to the global stage.

Rapid advancements in drone technology include longer battery life, extended range, increased payload capacity, enhanced sensors and cameras. Add to this the new features like AI-based image intelligence features, post-processing workflows, autonomy, and integration capabilities. These technological developments enable drones to perform complex tasks and operate in different kinds of challenging environments.

Like in several other spheres, even in drones too India has been competing against China to gain global market ascendancy. Due to concerns related to predatory pricing and alleged data espionage practices, many countries, including India, are gradually shifting away from Chinese technology in the drone industry. This presents an opportunity for India to become a preferred supply destination as the world seeks alternatives to Chinese-origin drones, sensors, storage, transmission, processing, and analysis systems.

For example, in the US, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020 was passed in 2019 and Section 848 still remains in effect. The Act proposed a law that restricts purchase of drones by the Department of Defense (DoD) with critical components from covered foreign country (read, People’s Republic of China).

Visibility of the Drone Makers in India

The key players in the Indian drone market include ideaForge Technology, Asteria Aerospace, Aarav Unmanned Systems , Tata Advanced Systems, Throttle Aerospace Systems, Shenzhen DJI Innovation Technology, Elbit Systems, Adani Defence & Aerospace, UrbanMatrix Technologies, Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, General Aeronautics, Paras Aerospace, TechEagle, among others.

In 2021, DCM Shriram Industries acquired a 30% stake in a Turkish drone company (Zyrone Dynamics) with an aim to create products for civilian use, especially for cargo transportation. Zyrone today sells its drones to both the Indian and the Asian market. In 2021 itself, RattanIndia Enterprises launched its drone business through its wholly-owned subsidiary NeoSky India. Subsequently, it made a strategic investment in the US-based urban drone logistics player Matternet.

IdeaForge supported by Infosys and Qualcomm has an impressive 50% market share in the Indian drone market. IdeaForge serves diverse applications, including border security and disaster management. It has noe expanded its services to include software solutions, such as a drone data management system, enabling clients to efficiently manage their data.

DJI India, a subsidiary of DJI, the world’s leading drone manufacturer, is renowned for its high-quality cameras and user-friendly interface. No wonder therefore that DJI’s drones find applications ranging from the world of filmmaking to the domain of agriculture. Additionally, DJI provides software solutions like DJI FlightHub, which facilitates efficient management of drone fleets.

Asteria Aerospace has benefited from the government’s PLI scheme and has become a majority-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries’ Jio Platforms. In addition to catering to the telecom tower surveillance requirements of Reliance Industries, Asteria extends its Drone-as-a-Service offerings to companies beyond the Reliance conglomerate. Aarav Unmanned Systems, nurtured at IIT Kanpur, has successfully mapped over 55 Lac acres of land, covering more than 200 mines, 35 cities, and over 25,000 villages across India. 

The Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace has developed an Anti-drone system in collaboration with the DRDO, effectively countering foreign enemy drones. Garuda has also partnered with Swiggy to conduct grocery delivery trials in Delhi-NCR and Bengaluru. Skylark Drones from Bengaluru has a customer base exceeding 100 enterprises including Tata Steel, Hindustan Zinc, and Hindalco and has an impressive track record of over 100,000 autonomous flights and the capture of 10 million images.

Located in Mumbai, Quidich Innovation Labs specializes in aerial cinematography and photography using drones. Quidich has worked in multiple Bollywood films (over 350 film projects) and major sporting events such as the IPL and the Pro Kabaddi League. Dhaksha Unmanned Systems, another beneficiary of the PLI scheme, focuses on a ‘Drone as a Service’ model within the agritech sector.

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