Drone manufacturer Garuda Aerospace has planned to establish a dedicated Defence Drone facility in the city, giving a fillip to the Centre's 'Make in India' campaign. During his interaction with Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi recently, Garuda Aerospace Agnishwer Jayaprakash discussed a new dedicated defence drone facility in Chennai with a state-of-the-art drone design, manufacturing and testing facilities as advised by HAL and BEML.

The proposed facility would house the manufacturing capabilities for indigenous drone subsystem development and local manufacturing of critical components such as drone motors, batteries and transmitters.

Garuda Aerospace is looking to develop drones with ISR capabilities besides swarm drones, tethered drones and underwater drones, a company statement said on Saturday.

Commenting on the interaction with the Defence Minister, company founder-CEO Agnishwer Jayaprakash said, "I had the privilege of meeting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Garuda Aerospace's plan of Make in India for the world was also greatly appreciated by the Defence Minister, who gave his complete support to expand Garuda's functions to enable Aatmanirbhar Bharat."

Jayaprakash also discussed the recent partnerships forged with Israel headquartered Agrowing, and Greece-based Spirit Aeronautics.

"The interaction emphasized the crucial role of defence drone technology and the Prime Minister's vision for the world. Garuda Aerospace will be at the forefront of enabling the Prime Minister's and Defence Ministers' vision for its armed forces," he added.

(With Inputs From Agencies)