How Drones Are Changing the Business World

Drone use has gone well beyond last-mile package delivery. Drones are already being used to improve a variety of tasks and industries. Despite the regulatory hurdles, the economic implications of commercial drone use are undeniable: Monitoring the Earth’s surface, In the agricultural sector, Medicine, and Logistics—and that’s just scratching the surface! You may even have noticed drones erasing old patterns of work and introducing new ones in your industry.

Drones are advantageous for various sectors depending on their specific requirements. Here are some of them:

Agriculture: The agriculture sector is one of the top segments where drones are being extensively used for crop monitoring, pesticide spraying, and fertilizer application.

Mapping and surveying: Mapping, surveying, and creating 3D models of terrain and buildings is another area where drones are being adopted.

Infrastructure inspection and monitoring: Drones are being used for the inspection and monitoring of infrastructure such as bridges, power lines, and pipelines, which can help detect faults and prevent accidents.

Defense and security: Defense and security sectors are significant adopters of drone technology for surveillance, reconnaissance, and target acquisition.

Logistics and delivery: Drones are being tested for delivery of goods in the logistics sector, which can help reduce delivery times and costs.
Insurance: Most of the major insurance companies are now experimenting with drones to reduce the inspection time for quicker settlements, and for detailed documentation in aerial photos to feasibly aid with disputed claims.
Entertainment: Drones can capture aerial footage for movies and TV shows in the entertainment industry.
Energy: Drones can inspect pipelines, wind turbines, and solar panels in the energy sector.

Drone-based applications being explored in India

When it comes to drone usage, Infrastructure and agriculture are seeing most traction, in line with global trends:

With all these uses of Drones in different sectors we believe Drones are one of the few technologies that could revolutionize the way the world appears.

Companies like Info Edge Ltd, Rattanindia Enterprises, and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd are working towards marking their presence in drone manufacturing. Recently Zomato acquired a Lucknow-based startup TechEagle for drone-based food delivery in India. Some more examples are –

A Bengaluru-based Drones as A Service (DaaS) provider offers ‘pay per use’ drone services for agriculture, survey/mapping, surveillance, and inspection purposes.
A Chennai-based DaaS start-up is working to empower Indian farmers and the agriculture industry by deploying 6 lakh drones across 6 lakh villages in India by 2025.
A Bengaluru-based start-up offers business information to assist businesses in scaling.

Fascinating Facts about India’s Thriving Drone Industry

India’s drone market size is expected to reach Over Rs.50,000 crore (US$ 6.69 billion) by 2026.

The Drone market in India is projected to generate a revenue of Rs.196 crore (US$ 23.6m) in 2023. When compared globally, China leads the way in terms of revenue generation, with a staggering Rs.11549 crore (US$1,394.0m) in 2023.
The Global Drone Market size was valued at $38.03 Billion in 2023 and is poised to grow to $178.81 Billion by 2030, at a CAGR of 25%, whereas the global Electric Vehicle market size was valued at $388.1 Billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to $951.9 Billion by 2030, exhibiting a CAGR of 21%

The growth in the Drone sector is primarily credited to:

1. Government initiatives: The government plans to create more than 10,000 jobs and encourage MSME investments by easing eligibility for the PLI scheme for Drones and Drone Components. It has also liberalized policies to help individuals and businesses leverage drone technology.
2. Increasing interest from start-ups and established corporates: Between August 2021 and February 2022, India saw a 34.4% growth in the number of drone start-ups
3. Flourishing research and development: Since 2015, nearly 37 patents around technologies such as propeller safety in automated aerial vehicles have been filed by drone companies.

Currently, India accounts for 22.5% of total global drone imports. Although most drones are employed for military activities, commercial drones are also becoming popular.
India is the 3rd largest importer of military-grade UAVs. At present, India imports specific components from China, the US, and Europe. India aims to manufacture indigenous drones and master the entire value chain.

By FY2024, the Government of India expects the total turnover of the drone manufacturing industry to increase to Rs.900 crore from Rs.60-80 crore at present. Additionally, the annual sales turnover of the drone services sector is projected to cross Rs.30,000 crores in FY2026. This will, in turn, create over 10 lakh jobs in the country.

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched an event called “Drone Mahotsav” to promote the drone industry. During his speech, he highlighted the significance of drone technology in a variety of fields, including agriculture, tourism, disaster management, military use and even wedding photography.

To promote India’s emerging drone industry, the government has introduced the mentioned policies and schemes:

Production-linked incentive scheme (PLI): With the PLI scheme, the government provides a total incentive span over three fiscal years of US$ 162 million to drone manufacturers.
Drone import policy: In February 2022, the government has restricted the import of foreign-made drones, while allowing the import of drone components.
Drone Shakti: The Drone Shakti scheme launched in the Budget 2022, aims at facilitating and promoting drones as a service through companies.
Agricultural drones monetary grant program: The Indian government offers financial incentives. For eg., Farmers Producers Organizations can receive up to 75% subsidy of the cost of an agricultural drone.

Indian Companies Take the Lead in Drone Manufacturing, Outpacing Chinese Competitors

India can tap on the growing global demand for drones as the reluctance toward Chinese drones keeps growing. Chinese drones are low-quality, and pose data-related security concerns as servers for chinese drones go back to China.

Till now, India has received 12,000 drones mainly for agricultural purposes from Malaysia, South America, Panama, and Africa. 75% of the import orders are for agricultural purposes and the rest are for mapping and inspection.

If you’re looking to invest in the Drone boom industry, there’s one company that stands out as a promising contender. Would you like to know which company we’re talking about?

Droneacharya Aerial Innovations – Drone service, training and manufacturing company

The drone service market in India was valued at US$ 130.4 million in 2020 which is expected to reach $4918.9 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 44.4%. The drone service market segment, drone Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul ( MRO) services, and drone training and education services are projected to grow at a CAGR of 46.8% and 45.2% by 2030.

Droneacharya Aerial Innovations is a full-fledged innovative solution provider in Drones, based out of Pune, India. The company was started in 2017 with a vision to encourage multiple aspects of Drones, Drone-as-a-service (DaaS), and Geographic Information System (GIS)- a system that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of data.

Droneacharya Aerial Innovations has designed training courses to create an individual with capabilities that can range from data capturing to data processing and finally conclude with their applications.
The company provides Drone training and geospatial Training courses of various types including Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) Certified Drone Pilot, Drone Building, Drones for Racing, Aerial Cinematography and aerial Making, implementing Python for GIS, Industrial applications of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), Drone data processing.

MANUFACTURING

Droneacharya Aerial Innovations has set up a manufacturing unit in Maharashtra. Management is hopeful to complete the setup and roll out our drone products in the coming 2 years. The Company aims to be a niche player in drone-related activities/services.

Management expects revenue to be in the range of Rs.45 crores to Rs.50 Crores for FY24 from Rs18.57 crores (in FY23), mainly on account of strongly increasing demand for drone pilot training courses, manufacturing of drones, overseas opportunities, sales avenues in the defense sector and other Drone related activities.

Currently, there are more than 4000 DGCA Certified Drone Pilots, out of which DroneAcharya holds a share of 8.4% of the total market size. As of 31st March 2023, there are 50 Remote Pilot Training organizations (RPTO) that have been set up across multiple states to certify individuals for flying drones legally throughout the country.

With the current growth rate of the Drone Pilot Training Sector in India, the requirement has been estimated at 1,00,000 drone pilots until 2025. DroneAcharya endeavors to achieve a 20% market share of the drone industry in India by the end of FY 2024. In terms of revenue this equates to a revenue of ₹50 crore – considering just 10,000 pilots and an average of ₹45,000- 50,000 in fees.

Statement of Profit & Loss for FY23