New Delhi: Coromandel International Limited on August 7 informed that its subsidiary, Dhaksha Unmanned Systems has received orders worth Rs 165 crore from Defence (Indian Army) and IFFCO. The company is the only drone manufacturer to receive type certificates from DGCA for three drone models in medium & small categories for agriculture and surveillance applications.

The order involves supplying 200 medium-altitude logistics drones and accessories to the Indian Army. Recently, Dhaksha has also bagged a 400-drone contract from agri inputs cooperative IFFCO for the supply of agri-spraying drones. These are planned to be delivered over the course of the next 12 months.

“These two orders are to be delivered over the next 12 months. We have a strong order pipeline which will further increase the potential revenues for the current year,” said Arun Alagappan, Executive Vice-Chairman of Coromandel International.

“The defence contract validates Dhaksha’s technology capability and its potential to capture opportunities in Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) space. This helps Coromandel and Murugappa group’s defence sector supplies opportunity,” he said.

Dhaksha’s orders for the current year have exceeded 165 crores including the orders from Defence and IFFCO. The company also has a strong order pipeline which will further increase the potential revenues for the current year. The company has a technology collaboration with Anna University. The company had been shortlisted under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drone manufacturing.

Dhaksha was incorporated in 2019 and is one of the leading players in the drone space in India. Dhaksha provides a complete range of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology solutions for different applications covering agriculture, defence, surveillance, and delivery, amongst others. The company is based out of Chennai and has over the years developed expertise in drone R&D, testing, manufacturing, and customer support.