Agnishwar’s Garuda is soaring on agri, defence demand

After engineering and law degrees from Anna university in Chennai, Agnishwar Jayaprakash dabbled in several entrepreneurial initiatives, including helping with platforms for development of youth entrepreneurship. One of the initiatives, which he began in 2015, was a drone development venture. That venture, called Garuda
Aerospace, has become Agnishwar’s most high profile.

It has raised nearly $28 million in funding – including from former India cricket captain MS Dhoni – and was valued at $250 million earlier this year. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated Garuda’s drone manufacturing facilities at Manesar in Gurugram and Chennai.

Agnishwar founded Garuda with five people. Today, it is about 200 strong. It manufactures 30 different types of drones and offers over 50 types of services – agricultural surveys, reconnaissance, surveillance, industry 4.0 upgradation services, structural damage inspection, warehouse management and delivery, seed dropping, solar panel cleaning, project monitoring, delivery of medicines for hospitals.

Recently, Garuda and a wholly owned subsidiary of HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics) signed a joint development partnership that will enable Garuda to manufacture advanced precision drones that can carry payloads of around 25 kg.

A farmer in Perambalur district in Tamil Nadu says they grow multiple crops in 60-70 acres of land each, and dealing with pests in, for instance, tall maize crops is a big challenge. “Spraying pesticides by hand is hard work, costs around Rs 900-1,000 per acre. With drones from Garuda Aerospace, spraying has become much easier; they save us time and money,” he says.

On Monday, the company launched a free programme, along with Bharat Drone Association and National Drone Pilot Association, to train people with disabilities on a range of drone related operations.

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