Chennai: Garuda Aerospace and Naini Aerospace, a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence have signed a joint development partnership. It will enable Garuda to manufacture Advanced Precision Drones on Indian soil for various applications.

The drones will be able to carry a payload of around 25 kg, according to Garuda Aerospace. Garuda Aerospace manufactures 30 types of drones and offers 50 types of services.

Cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni is an investor in Garuda Aerospace and is also the brand ambassador.

"Our Prime Minister's vision of achieving the milestone of 1 lakh Made in India drones by 2024 is well on track. Our partnership with Naini Aerospace (a wholly owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) is a natural next step for us. Our drone yatra has also been a grand success and we have pre-booked over 7000 drones at Rs. 4.5 lakhs each," said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, founder and CEO, of Garuda Aerospace.

"Partnerships with government PSUs is critical given the knowledge and experience they possess to scale up production. We will continue to stay focused, and partner with industry leaders that will help us achieve our PM's vision," Jayaprakash added, according to a release.

Garuda Aerospace recently partnered with BEML at Aero India for drone manufacturing at their Mysore facility and initiated a massive indigenization campaign. The company has also collaborated with 120 local suppliers with the objective of reducing reliance on foreign imports of drone parts, components, and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles subsystems.

"We are very excited to be working along with Garuda Aerospace on the rapidly evolving drone sector. Our experience with the production of Helicopter structures was launched on July 11, 2018 in a newly constructed aero-structure hangar equipped with state-of-art facilities. The first batch of helicopter structures duly cleared by the Director General of Aeronautical Quality Assurance (DGAQA) was delivered to the Helicopter Division of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited on November 22, 2018. NAeL has now reached the level of full-fledged operationalization with proven capabilities in the field of production of Aerostructures and Aircraft loom manufacturing," said RR Thakur, Chief Executive Officer, Naini Aerospace.

Naini Aerospace Limited (NAeL) was incorporated in December 2016 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). Naini Aerospace has a vision of sustainable manufacturing operations in the aerospace and aviation sector and is situated in the Naini industrial area of Prayagraj developed by UP State Industrial Development Corporation.

With Garuda Aerospace now having a presence in UP, delivery and access to clients across North, West, East and North East will become seamless, the release said.

The partnership also enables a reduction in cost given the ease of transportation. The factory is located on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur highway, approximately 20 km from Prayagraj city centre. Naini, Prayagraj is being considered for inclusion in the proposed defence industrial corridor of Uttar Pradesh.