As India’s drone sector gears up for a meteoric rise—from a valuation of roughly ₹80 crore today to an anticipated ₹15,000 crore by next year—an ambitious partnership has taken flight. The Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and Gurugram-based agritech pioneer AVPL International have formalized a memorandum of understanding to engineer the country’s first wholly homegrown drone, encompassing both hardware and the critical layers of software intelligence.
The collaboration, inked at IIT Ropar’s Centre of Excellence for Studies and Applied Research in Defence and Security (COE SARDS), sets its sights beyond mere assembly. Teams of scientists and researchers will develop proprietary flight-control algorithms, AI-driven navigation suites and end-to-end encrypted communications—eschewing reliance on any external cloud services or code libraries. The aim is to safeguard national data within Indian borders, aligning with the government’s broader push for an “Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
“Securing the sovereignty of our skies demands that we wield 100 percent Indian technology,” said Prof. Rajiv Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar. “This venture isn’t only about aerospace engineering—it’s foundational to bolstering our defence capabilities.” His remarks come as New Delhi rolls out high-impact initiatives like ‘Drone Shakti’ and ‘Namo Drone Didi,’ which promote drone adoption especially among women in agriculture. However, officials caution that without indigenous solutions, India risks becoming a perpetual end-user of foreign platforms.
Currently, even domestically assembled drones depend heavily on overseas software and AI services, experts warn. Such dependency may expose critical systems to data breaches, remote hijacking or cyberattacks—threats that could compromise sensitive operations, including border surveillance. By internalizing every layer of drone technology, the IIT Ropar–AVPL alliance seeks to eliminate these vulnerabilities.
Backing this vision, AVPL International has pledged an initial ₹5–6 crore toward joint R&D over the next three to four years, with funding flexibility for future expansion. “Our goal is clear: transferring control of both hardware and data back to India,” explained N.K. Mohapatra, AVPL’s CEO. “This project is as much about strategic security as it is about technological innovation.”
With prototyping slated to begin shortly and pilot units expected by late 2025, this homegrown drone initiative could herald a new era for India’s burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle industry—ensuring that when the nation’s drones soar, they do so on wholly indigenous wings.
