The government’s new drone scheme for women’s self-help groups (SHGs) will boost opportunities and growth for the drone industry and create a win-win situation for both industry and agriculture, senior executives said.
“I think this is the biggest news that the drone industry has ever received, because such amounts of funds have never been allocated (in relation to the drone industry),” Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO of drone-maker Garuda Aerospace, told ET.
The government announced on Wednesday it has approved an outlay of INR 1,261 crore for the period from 2024-25 to 2025-26 for the scheme. Under the scheme, drones will be provided to 15,000 women’s SHGs during the period 2023-24 to 2025-2026 to provide rental services to farmers for agriculture purposes.
The government’s recognition of the agricultural drone application is a welcome step which will drive faster adoption of the technology, said Kannan M, chief marketing officer at Dhaksha Unmanned Systems.
“This scheme is a testimony to our belief that agriculture will be one of the key sectors for drone usage in India, and for the technology’s adoption… Every (drone) company will be eyeing this as an opportunity, not only to sell but also to make an impact in the lives of rural women, and we are also eyeing it,” he said.
Technology industry apex body Nasscom told ET that the move is a significant step forward in the government’s vision of inclusive Digital India growth, noting that the drone market is expected to reach $50 billion in the next 15 years as per government estimates.
“The development of the drone ecosystem is further expected to increase employment creation. However, its ultimate success hinges on key factors such as rapid large-scale skilling and cost-effective drone pilot training, reducing policy hurdles and minimising compliance burden on start-ups and the industry,” Nasscom said.
Both Garuda Aerospace and Dhaksha Unmanned Systems are ready to ramp up production.
“We are hoping that in the next 4-5 months, by March-April of 2024, we will have at least 7,000-8,000 drones ready to be sold. With this initiative, we can now boldly start positioning for it,” said Garuda’s Jayaprakash.
About 1,000 drones made by Garuda Aerospace are currently deployed in agriculture, Jayaprakash said, giving them 55% market share in the agri-drone segment.
S Sivakumar, chairman, CII National Council on Agriculture and group head – agri & IT businesses, ITC Ltd, said, “CII welcomes Central Sector Scheme for providing drones to the Women Self Help Groups (SHGs), aimed at empowering women farmers, creating employment and additional income opportunities as well as bringing new technologies in agriculture for improving efficiency, enhancing crop yield and reducing cost of operation creating a win-win solution for all stakeholders.”
Executives said the industry is waiting for the government to specify the procurement process so that they can participate.
According to Jayaprakash, the announcement instills confidence in the drone industry and in investors, adding that it influenced Garuda Aerospace to speed up its IPO plans. The company will have their pre-IPO round in January-February and go for IPO in June-July next year, he said.
“Otherwise, we would have waited another one year. Now, investors will come flocking, knowing that the government is going to spend Rs 1,261 crores.”
The company, which expects to see a revenue of INR 120 crore FY 2023-24, believes the move can help boost revenue to INR 300-400 crore by FY 2024-25, of which around INR 200 crore would be from agri-drones, Jayaprakash said.
In addition to uplifting women in the rural economy, the move will have a broader impact as the data collected by drones can be used by artificial intelligence-based companies to offer solutions and precision agriculture will take off, Jayaprakash said.
“It is not just the drone industry. There are going to be a lot of other AI-based and other advanced tech industries that will see a boom,” Jayaprakash said.
