Garuda Aerospace Opens Agri-Drone Indigenisation Unit in Chennai

• Garuda opened India’s first Agri-Drone Indigenisation Facility in Chennai.
• 300 Centres of Excellence and a DGCA-approved trainer program were launched.
• Garuda aims to make 1 lakh drones by 2026 under Atmanirbhar Bharat.

Union Minister of State for Rural Development, Kamlesh Paswan opened Garuda Aerospace's Agri-Drone Indigenisation Facility in Chennai.  Spanning across 35,000 square feet, this is now India's first dedicated hub for designing, manufacturing, and testing advanced Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The facility is an expansion of Garuda's existing facility and is going to build seven subsystems and 33 parts locally, advancing the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

The Minister also opened 300 Centres of Excellence (CoE), while also giving the greenlight to the DGCA-approved Train the Trainer (TTT) program. The Centres of Excellence will operate as after-sales service centres, create employment, develop future drone pilots, while forming partnerships with academic and industry networks, to build research and innovation.

The TTT program is Garuda’s flagship skill development initiative aimed at certifying professionals to operate as a drone instructor. The TTT program will provide hands-on, individual training on UAS operations, maintenance, safety, and teach individuals how to teach the national standard as laid out in DGCA, Operator and Pilot, Safety Manual.

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The event featured a live Agri-Drone demonstration from the Drone Didis which illustrates Garuda’s commitment to ensure self-reliance and a more locally manufactured drone industry.

Minister congratulated Garuda and their CEO, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, for their efforts to develop India's drone capacity and enabling the Prime Minister's vision to make India a global drone hub. He complimented the Bharat Drone Association for uniting local manufacturers at the new facility.

"We had three monumental inaugurations in the presence of our Hon’ble Minister today including our milestone launch of the Indigenous Agri-Drone Facility, something we have been working on for a long time. Our Prime Minister Modi ji gave us a vision in 2022 to manufacture one lakh Made-in-India drones by 2026. We have delivered 4,000 drones so far and are confident we will achieve this target in the next two years.  Our new facility is equipped to manufacture over 33 different parts and 7 subsystems; this reinforces our commitment to self-reliance. All of these efforts and initiatives have powered Garuda Aerospace to become one of India’s most valuable drone startups, with a fast-growing global footprint", said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO of Garuda Aerospace.