Garuda Aerospace ramps up defence, global expansion

CHENNAI: Agnishwar Jayaprakash, CEO, Garuda Aerospace, in an interview with DTNext, outlines the drone manufacturer’s aggressive growth roadmap for FY26, highlights its evolving focus beyond agriculture into defence and global markets, and discusses the challenges and innovation strategies powering its mission to be a global UAV leader. Excerpts:

How is Garuda sustaining its growth in FY26?

We closed FY24 with Rs 108 crore in revenue, and we’re on track to meet our FY25 target of Rs 250 crore. For FY26, we’re projecting Rs 365 crore, driven by lean contract manufacturing, efficient system integration, and low marketing spends. Our margins remain healthy—30-32 per cent gross, 24 per cent EBDITA, and 15 per cent PAT—focusing on sustainable, not reckless, growth.

What new sectors are you targeting?

While agriculture remains the key, we’re aggressively expanding into defence and surveillance.

We’re working with the Indian armed forces and entering areas like infrastructure inspection, logistics, disaster response, and smart cities. Partnerships with Tata Elxsi and HFCL are helping us scale capabilities across these verticals.

What role does the Chennai facility play?

Our Chennai facility is central to our innovation. The 35,000 sq ft space supports rapid prototyping, subsystem production, and component-level manufacturing. This boosts indigenisation, reduces import dependency, and enhances scalability. We also plan to open two more facilities soon.

How crucial is international expansion?

We’re targeting markets like the US, UAE, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan. Expanding to over 15 global markets by 2030 will significantly boost export revenue and position India as a drone hub. This is a key driver for long-term growth.

What are the key growth challenges?

Dependency on imported drone components remains a challenge, as does scaling without compromising quality. A skilled pilot workforce is also essential. We’re countering this through local supplier partnerships, academic collaborations, and nationwide pilot training centers.

Are more funding rounds planned?

The Rs 100 crore Series B from Venture Catalysts powers our current growth, but, we’re open to future strategic funding. While we haven’t fixed the next round’s size, the goal is to deepen indigenisation and expand our market presence.

What’s your R&D and manufacturing approach?

We follow an asset-light model, focusing on design, software, and system integration. With over 20 patents, and partnerships with IIT Roorkee and IISc, we emphasise innovation. Our drones are 85 per cent indigenous, aligning with ‘Make in India’.

What makes Garuda’s drones stand out?

Our drones are customised, AI-powered, and highly energy-efficient. Unlike generic solutions, we tailor drones for specific sectors—agriculture, defence, logistics—with a deep focus on performance and adaptability. We’ve developed solutions for solar panel cleaning, industrial pipeline inspections, and even public announcements. Our consumer drone ‘Droni’ named after MS Dhoni, marked our entry into the B2C segment. We’re also working on cargo drones for optimised logistics and urban mobility. Our ‘Kisan Drone’ developed for agricultural pesticide spraying is capable of covering 30 acres a day.

What future drone applications excite you most?

We see major opportunities in last-mile delivery, AI-powered swarms, counter-drone systems, and predictive maintenance. Drones for disaster relief and humanitarian aid will also become increasingly vital. We’re not just building drones—we’re building an ecosystem. We’ve trained over 100,000 drone pilots, and our collaboration with MS Dhoni as an investor and brand ambassador, highlights our commitment to democratising drone tech for every Indian.