Introduction
As autonomous technology progresses, drones, or unmanned aircraft operated by a remote controller, are becoming increasingly deployable across a variety of industries. In today’s world, unmanned aerial aircraft have become a necessity rather than a luxury, particularly given the current state of national lockdown and social alienation brought on by the coronavirus outbreak. Unmanned aircraft, or drones, have been around for a long time, but they’ve primarily been utilised for military purposes.
However, as technology progresses, we may see it being used for a wide range of purposes.The growing demand for drones has driven some of the world’s most creative minds to develop a wide range of innovative products.
Drones have recently gained popularity in India, thanks to a variety of applications in the defence, civilian, and commercial sectors. One of the major Defence Laboratory in India DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation has invested greatly in the Research and Development of Drones with a focus on the needs of Indian Defence scenarios.
How Big Is The Drone Sector In India?
There’s no denying the recent surge in drone industry growth – the drone services market is anticipated to reach $63.6 billion by 2025, while Insider Intelligence expects consumer drone shipments will reach 29 million by 2021.According to Statista, sales of consumer drones in the United States to dealers exceeded $1.25 billion in 2020. The overall drone market is expected to be worth $100 billion, according to Goldman Sachs, thanks to increasing business and government demand for drones.
In the broader drone sector, enterprise drones have the most promise. Enterprise drones, according to Insider Intelligence, all the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) sold directly to a company for use in its operations.Insider Intelligence estimates that total global exports will reach 2.4 million in 2023, increasing at an annual growth rate of 66.8%. (CAGR). Agriculture, construction and mining, insurance, media and telecommunications, and law enforcement are the five key divisions of the enterprise industry where drones will emerge.
The Best Drone Startups In India
AUS, the first Indian firm to provide professional drone solutions for businesses, is a start-up that was established in 2013 at IIT Kanpur and is now headquartered in Bangalore, the country’s technological powerhouse.Drones made at AUS have consistently achieved world-class technical milestones over the last five years as a result of continued work on Drone Intelligence, Hardware optimization, and Design innovation.
AUS is the unchallenged leader in commercial drones in India, having served important players across many verticals for both the private and public sectors. GrowX, 500 Startups, StartupXseed, 3one4 capital, Valpro, Mr. Ashok Atluri (Zen technologies), and Mr. Sanjay Jesrani are among the companies and individuals who have backed AUS (GoNorth ventures).
1 Martian Way (1MW) is a Mumbai-based Artificial Intelligence startup that develops software and embedded AI products for drones, robotics, web/mobile platforms, and advanced automation systems. The company is most recognised for founding the internationally renowned Indian Drone Racing League (IDRL).
The 1MW Geospatial Intel Suite, 1MW Backduck, and 1 MW xFleetY are among its products. The Indian Drone Racing League (IDRL) and Roboland are two of 1 Martian Way’s brands. Third-party vendors and companies are also licenced to use the company’s technologies.
CRON Systems is a prominent developer of high-performance sensing hardware and perception software that enhances situational awareness in UAVs, vehicles, mapping, security, and general surveillance, among other areas.
The Kavach family of advanced multi-sensor scanners from CRON Systems, as well as the SenseEdge perception software, are meant to complement the hardware with powerful AI and machine learning-based perception, prediction, and planning functions.Top-tier strategic partners and investors back CRON Systems, including YourNest Venture Capital, Techstars Adelaide, and Cisco Launchpad.
Aerial Photo (Envent digital Technologies)
AerialPhoto (Event Digital Technologies) is on a mission to obtain and generate the best aerial pictures possible. To provide assistance on a nationwide scale, with services that clients cannot refuse. To work tirelessly and provide the most powerful aerial filming experience possible to its customers.AerialPhoto’s goal is to set the best possible standards in every aspect of the aerial photography industry.
To be a one-stop manufacturing house with a wide range of business skills.The company provides a wide range of services, including aerial filming and cinematography, real estate filming, construction site filming, and 360-degree virtual tour mapping and surveying. It also offers a diverse selection of equipment that allows it to meet the needs of various clients and customers.
Detect Technologies was founded in 2016 at the IIT Madras Research Park by a group of IIT Madras alumni and professors with the goal of assisting process industries in achieving digital transformation for asset integrity solutions. Detected technologies exist at the crossroads of patented hardware and intelligent algorithms, and they add value to their industrial partners by enabling the creation of true predictive capability.
The first totally automated drone of its kind, an intelligent drone for dependable asset inspection. Because the assets vary in size and location, Noctua can be programmed to meet the unique needs of each piece of equipment, such as columns, tanks, and reactors. This flight route is quite predictable, making it a really repeatable periodic check. Due to its unique positioning mechanism, Noctua is the first drone in the world that can perform a programmed flight indoors. Intelligent software maintains the calibration of the state-of-the-art thermal camera mounted on Noctua.
Rchobbytech Solutions Private Limited was founded by a group of technical experts a few years ago and is quickly rising to the top and dominating the industry. The company’s headquarters are in Kolkata (West Bengal, India), from where it is eminently functional and successful in conducting business across the country. The company is backed by a team of specialists with extensive experience in their respective fields and a thorough understanding of the organization’s goals.
RC Hobby Tech Solutions Private Limited is a well-functioning corporation that excels in providing superior products and services. The business creates products. Agricultural Drones, Pesticide Spraying Drones, Crop Monitoring Drones, Surveillance Drones, Drone Cameras, and Photography Drones are some of the types of drones available.
As a service provider, the company has developed competence in providing customers with services such as Drone Manufacturing, Aerial Photography, Surveillance Drone, and Digital Photography.
Aero360 is a drone solutions company that provides businesses with end-to-end drone solutions. Among its drone solutions are:
- Turnkey Services: 360*solutions for your projects, including data gathering, processing, and analysis, delivered globally via the Pilot Partner Network & centralised data processing.
- Drone Tool Kits: Industry-specific drone toolkits plus accessories to support your company’s in-house drone programme.
- Data Processing & Analysis: Extract actionable intelligence from your UAV/raw Drone’s data by processing and analysing it.
- Training and Consulting: Industry-specific UAV training and experienced consulting services for your project needs.
- Drone Repair Services: The company’s network of drone repair centres provides extensive local support for repairs and maintenance of your drones. Aero360’s products offer improved scoping, evaluation, planning, surveying, design, inspection, and maintenance decisions by providing high-resolution aerial photos and videos.
India’s largest drone producer for defence, homeland security, and industrial uses is ideaForge. The business, which was founded in 2007 by IIT-Bombay alumni, has a constant market share of over 90% in the Security & Surveillance area. The company is a licenced maker of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with Ministry of Defence approval (MoD).IdeaForge is the first company in India to develop and build vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). It is India’s UAV industry pioneer, with many patents to its name, including the world’s lightest autopilot in 2009.
The firm has currently deployed over 700 systems and trained over 1300 pilots in forces such as the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force, as well as all CAPFs (CRPF, BSF, NSG, and others), State Police Forces, Indian Railways, TAFE, NTPC, DRDO, L&T, and others.
ideaForge is a vertically integrated company with R&D, design, software, manufacturing, services, and training activities in-house. It provides world-class end-to-end solutions for a variety of applications in the defence, homeland security, and enterprise sectors. The company is always inventing and experimenting to improve the performance, reliability, and autonomy of its aerial platforms.
Closing Thoughts
The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) will only grow as the technology improves and becomes more accessible to the general public. Those who can afford them are already using drones to blog, vlog, and produce documents for personal and business purposes.
Currently, governments and huge private firms such as Amazon are investigating the possibilities that drones provide in terms of recon, surveying, deliveries, and so on. If regulations let it, the new Indian business might grow quickly and become critical components of fields like transportation, security, mapping, and a slew of other productive endeavours.
