Garuda works around India’s drone import ban with new international partnership accords

India’s services company Garuda Aerospace says it’s extending the reach of its work-around to the nation’s 2022 protectionist ban on drone imports – and the gaping hole created by excluded DJI craft – through a new agreement with a quintet of specialized international producers compliant with those restrictions.

Chennai-based Garuda announced the accords this week with drone makers from the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, and France for what it described as the “nation-wide distribution of their drones across the defense, security, and civil infrastructure sectors.” The company does not explain how the partnerships will legally skirt India’s 2022 ban on UAV imports, but says it will serve to scale their respective businesses and customer needs by filling “the void left by DJI” being excluded from domestic markets.

Garuda says the deals were concluded with Titan Innovations, Easy Aerial, Azur Drones, Aero Sentinel, and Securiton, all of which produce specialized drones for sensitive operation in security, defense, industrial, and nuclear sectors.

The move seeks to work around India’s import ban under the nation’s AatmaNirbhar Bharat, or Make in India policies. Exception to the prohibition requires official waivers, with the rule designed to encourage – or indeed oblige – domestic production and sales of goods in various sectors, including drone development and manufacturing. 

Previous steps to adapt to those restrictions by global drone and advanced air mobility companies like Draganfly and Eve were based on partnering with Indian firms capable of orchestrating production and sale of nominally foreign origin craft.

Read more: Draganfly partners with RSI to access India’s expanding (and protected) drone market

While Garuda did not explain how its accords would comply with the strictures, it said the initiative would surmount the challenges the “Indian drone market has been faced with… (in) responding to the country’s recent ban.”

That, it noted, would be particularly true regarding the absence of “DJI, which previously supplied drones for an array of Indian companies servicing the agricultural, construction, security, emergency response and defense sectors.” 

Garuda Aerospace CEO Agnishwar Jayaprakash called the distribution accords a win for all six associates involved, India’s drone market, and above all domestic clients seeking the best aerial solutions.

“We’re delighted to have signed these key partnerships, helping facilitate the growth of India’s drone market and ensuring the continued development of this hugely disruptive industry,” said Jayaprakash. “The fact that our partners span the US, Canada, Israel and Europe reflects the expertise and vision of our team as well as the use-cases for our drones ­­– from monitoring the condition of state infrastructure, ensuring roads and bridges are constructed according to plan and crop spraying, to emergency response, and deployment of anti-drone cyber security solutions.”

Yahav Regev, CEO of Titan Innovations, said finding a compliant manner of entering India’s potentially huge drone market had become a must for international UAV companies.

“Poised to supersede the US economy by 2075, we are invested in building long-term relationships with Indian partners,” said Regev. “After a rigorous selection process, we decided to partner with Garuda based on the strength of its network in the security sector, as well as its expertise in national distribution of drone technology across India.”