Technology is transforming how nations secure their borders, grow their crops, and build their cities, and drones an integral part of this shift. As India accelerates toward a digital and self-reliant future, Garuda Aerospace is playing a pivotal role in building an indigenous, innovation-led drone ecosystem. In conversation with Tech Achieve Media, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace, shares insights on shaping India’s drone policy, advancing defence capabilities through homegrown UAVs, and pioneering the Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS) model that is democratizing drone access across industries. With operations spanning 84 cities and a growing global footprint, Garuda Aerospace exemplifies how technology and entrepreneurship can together power India’s next frontier of innovation.
TAM: The Indian government’s drone policy has evolved significantly over the past few years. How do you view Garuda’s role in shaping India’s drone ecosystem and influencing regulatory frameworks?
Agnishwar Jayaprakash: Garuda Aerospace has played a foundational role in the growth and formalization of India’s drone ecosystem. From the early days of policy evolution, we have consistently aligned ourselves with the Government’s Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision, working closely with regulatory authorities to ensure responsible, scalable and innovation-driven drone adoption.
We were among the first Indian UAV companies to secure DGCA Type Certification for our indigenously built Kisan Drones, and are also one of the only companies to hold both Type Certification and RPTO (Remote Pilot Training Organization) approvals. Today, we proudly hold 6 DGCA certifications, reflecting our commitment to compliance, safety, and rigorous quality standards. Beyond manufacturing, our pilot training ecosystem enables large-scale skill development and contributes directly to the creation of a robust talent pipeline for India’s drone workforce.
We have actively contributed to consultations and knowledge-sharing platforms with policymakers and government bodies, providing real-world operational insights from sectors such as agriculture, defense, mining, disaster response, smart cities, and infrastructure inspection. As India’s drone policies continue to evolve, we see ourselves not just as participants but as enablers and catalysts, helping shape guidelines that ensure drones are deployed safely, meaningfully, and at scale.
Our role is ongoing: we intend to remain a trendsetter in technology, training, and governance, ensuring that India leads the global drone innovation narrative for the next decade and beyond.
TAM: Defence and surveillance are becoming increasingly crucial for India’s national security. What role is Garuda playing in supporting defence applications, and how do you see this segment evolving?
Agnishwar Jayaprakash: Garuda Aerospace plays a strategic role in strengthening India’s defence, surveillance, and homeland security capabilities through fully indigenous, mission-ready UAV platforms. Our defence drone portfolio includes tactical surveillance drones, long-endurance reconnaissance systems, border monitoring platforms, and rapid-response drones for search-and-rescue and disaster relief operations. These solutions are designed to meet India’s diverse terrain and operational requirements from mountainous borders and coastlines to dense urban zones.
We have partnered with key defence stakeholders and continue to support initiatives of the Indian Army, Indian Air Force, Navy, NDRF, CRPF, and several State Police & Special Task Forces. Our UAVs are equipped with real-time HD and thermal imaging, secure encrypted communication links, autonomous navigation, and AI-driven object detection, enabling actionable intelligence and faster decision cycles in high-risk environments.
The strategic importance of drones in modern defence operations is expanding rapidly, especially in areas such as border surveillance, convoy protection, battlefield mapping, artillery fire correction, and counter-insurgency. Additionally, the rise of drone swarming, loitering munitions, and unmanned combat systems signals a major shift in warfare dynamics globally.
Going forward, we foresee the defence segment evolving into one of the largest growth drivers for UAV technology in India. Garuda Aerospace is deeply committed to contributing to this evolution through continuous R&D investment, indigenous manufacturing, component localization, and technology collaboration under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Defence Indigenization missions.
Our vision is to help build a self-reliant, resilient, and future-ready Indian defence drone ecosystem that strengthens national security and positions India as a global leader in unmanned systems.
TAM: The “Drone-as-a-Service” model is still evolving globally. How is Garuda Aerospace differentiating itself from both domestic and international players in this space?
Agnishwar Jayaprakash: The Drone-as-a-Service model is still maturing worldwide, and in India the need of the hour is accessibility and scalability. At Garuda Aerospace, we differentiate ourselves by offering a complete ecosystem rather than just drone hardware. Our approach ensures that customers don’t need to purchase, operate, or maintain drones themselves. Instead, they can simply book drone services on demand, whether it is for agricultural spraying, industrial inspections, surveillance, mapping, or emergency response.
What sets our DaaS model apart is:
- Made-in-India manufacturing with deep localization of components
- National network of DGCA-certified drone pilots through our RPTO programs
- Operations across 400+ districts, ensuring reliability and service availability at scale
- Mission-based pricing (per acre / per flight hour / per inspection), making drone usage cost-effective and flexible
This model enables farmers, enterprises, PSUs, and defence agencies to adopt drone technology without upfront investment. It also creates recurring value for our clients and recurring revenue for us.
Unlike many international players who rely heavily on imported platforms, or domestic players who focus either on manufacturing or services alone, Garuda provides an integrated solution, which is Drone + Pilot + Data + Support. This is what allows us to operate efficiently at scale while keeping our offerings affordable and impactful.
As adoption continues to grow, we see DaaS becoming one of the most important pathways for mainstream drone usage and our focus will remain on accessibility, operational excellence, and real-world problem solving.
TAM:Garuda’s expansion to 84 Indian cities is commendable. What’s next on your global roadmap and are there specific markets or regions you are eyeing for international growth?
Agnishwar Jayaprakash: Expanding to 84 cities in India has given us a strong operational foundation, and the next step is to scale our Drone-as-a-Service model globally. Our goal is not just to export drones, but to export a complete service ecosystem that can be adapted to local regulations, use cases, and skill requirements.
We have already taken early steps in this direction. We have initiated operations in Sri Lanka and have secured export approvals for the United States, Australia, and key Middle Eastern regions. In parallel, we are working closely with international partners to strengthen our defence, civil, and industrial drone capabilities. Some of our collaboration engagements include Elbit Systems, Lockheed Martin, Cognizant, Thales, SAS (Greece) and other strategic global organizations.
We are particularly focused on regions where drone-based agriculture, last-mile logistics, infrastructure inspection, and border security are emerging national priorities. Countries in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East are currently showing strong demand for scalable drone solutions and trained pilot networks, which aligns well with the model we have proven in India.
As we expand, we are continuously upgrading our manufacturing capacity, local partnerships, and pilot training programs to ensure we can deliver sustainable, long-term operations, not just exports. The vision is to position Garuda Aerospace as a global leader in affordable, mission-ready Drone-as-a-Service solutions designed in India, for the world.
TAM: What is your long-term vision for Garuda Aerospace, and how do you see drones contributing to India’s broader digital and economic transformation?
Agnishwar Jayaprakash: At Garuda Aerospace, our long-term vision is inseparable from India’s broader journey toward technological leadership and economic self-reliance. We are deeply aligned with the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India for the World’ mission and the national ambition of Viksit Bharat 2047. From our earliest days, we have believed that India should not simply adopt global drone technologies, but should build systems, services, and intellectual property that originate here and are shared with the world. Our goal is to ensure that India becomes a global hub for drone innovation, not just in manufacturing, but also in talent development, scalable operations, and real-world problem solving.
We see drones playing a central role in India’s digital and economic transformation. Whether it is improving agricultural productivity through precision spraying and farm analytics, monitoring critical infrastructure and industrial assets with greater speed and accuracy, securing borders through persistent aerial surveillance, supporting disaster relief with rapid-response situational awareness, or enabling future-ready logistics and medical supply chains, drones have the potential to fundamentally reshape efficiency and transparency across sectors. The value is not only in the aircraft itself, but in the intelligence, coordination, and decision-making that drones make possible. As India builds more smart cities, expands renewable energy grids, strengthens transport corridors, and digitizes governance systems, aerial intelligence will become as essential as internet connectivity is today.
This future requires not just technology, but people. One of the most important parts of our mission is creating a strong workforce capable of operating, maintaining, and innovating in the drone ecosystem. Through our DGCA-approved Remote Pilot Training Organization programs, we are building India’s drone talent pipeline with a focus on youth, rural communities, agriculture graduates, engineers, and ex-servicemen. The rise of Drone-as-a-Service means that livelihoods can be created without requiring individuals or organizations to purchase drones themselves. A trained pilot can earn a sustainable income, and an enterprise can access drone capabilities affordably and on demand. This makes the growth of the drone industry not only technologically significant, but socially inclusive and economically broad-based.
Looking ahead, we believe drones will become deeply integrated into India’s emerging Industry 5.0 framework, where collaboration between humans and intelligent machines defines productivity. Our work in AI-driven data analysis, autonomous navigation, integrated command-and-control systems, and digital mapping is aimed at ensuring drones evolve from being standalone tools to becoming part of India’s digital public infrastructure. Much like how UPI transformed digital payments by making advanced systems accessible to everyone, we envision drones enabling a similar transformation in national development, making high-impact aerial intelligence available across farms, cities, industries, and borders.
India is entering a technological renaissance where homegrown innovation will shape global markets. Garuda Aerospace intends to be one of the companies leading this shift, proving that world-class aerospace technology can be designed, developed, and scaled from India, and demonstrating that drones can be a symbol of national progress, opportunity, resilience, and global confidence.
