Chennai: IPO-bound Garuda Aerospace, one of India’s leading drone technology companies, hosted Additional Director General (ADG), Army Design Bureau (ADB), Major General Gopal Kapoor, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM), at the company’s defence drone manufacturing facility in Chennai.
The purpose of the visit was to review the Garuda Aerospace’s indigenous and localisation capabilities and understand the company’s ongoing and upcoming projects supporting India’s evolving defence and drone ecosystem.
Garuda Aerospace provided an overview of its defence programmes, manufacturing capabilities, R&D initiatives and industry partnerships. The company highlighted its growing drone pilot training ecosystem, including its Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTOs), as well as initiatives proposed to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) to train 80,000 Agniveers across the TriServices while discussing projects in the pipeline.
Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO, Garuda Aerospace, said, “India’s journey towards defence self-reliance requires strong collaboration between industry, government, academia and the armed forces. Major General Gopal Kapoor’s visit at our facility is an important milestone for us given we were presented with an opportunity to showcase how we are building a more self-reliant and resilient defence ecosystem. We remain committed to advancing our Prime Minister’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision and contributing to India’s ambition of becoming a global hub for indigenous drone technology and manufacturing.”
The ADG, ADB, commended Garuda Aerospace for its efforts to strengthen India’s domestic drone manufacturing capabilities and appreciated its investments in manufacturing infrastructure, technology development and R&D. The team also reviewed the company’s vulnerability checklist and testing processes in coordination with authorised agencies to assess adherence to applicable defence standards.
Garuda Aerospace showcased its state-of-the-art 50,000 sq ft drone manufacturing facility spanning design, prototyping, manufacturing, testing and deployment. The manufacturing unit houses injection moulding, industrial-grade 3D printing, battery assembly and testing infrastructure which is supported by 50+ PhD researchers specialising in areas including PCB manufacturing, RF antennae, communication systems and Ground Control Stations.
ADG, ADB highlighted indigenisation as an important pillar of India’s defence preparedness and the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The interaction reinforced the vision of ‘Design in India, Develop in India and Manufacture in India’.
