DroneAcharya To Bring EU Defence Drone Tech To India

Listed defence tech startup DroneAcharya has bagged an exclusive contract from Krattworks to facilitate local production and distribution of the Estonia-based company’s defence drone products in the country under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

Krattworks offers advanced drone solutions, including jamming-resistant intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) drones equipped with day and night vision.

The European Union-based company also manufactures fixed-wing aerial target drones, with heavy payload capacity and radar reflectors.

In an exchange filing today (October 23), DroneAcharya said that these drones are ideal for critical defence applications such as ISR missions, border patrolling and round the clock surveillance operations.

DroneAcharya already makes first-person-view drones for the Indian Army, which are used for surveillance, drone pilot training and specialised training for defence missions. In January this year,  the company secured a contract from the Indian Army to provide capacity building and advanced drone training at the Mechanised Army Courses Group, Ahmednagar. 

The addition of Krattworks’ drones to its fleet will further embolden DroneAcharya’s capabilities in offering advanced drone technology to Indian defence forces, the Pune-based company said.

Krattworks’ anti-jamming drones could prove to be a valuable asset to India’s defence forces, particularly in high-threat environments and electronically contested zones, it added.

Following the announcement, shares of DroneAcharya rallied 7% to INR 144.9 apiece on the BSE today. However, the stock has tanked almost 24% on a year-to-date basis.

Founded by Prateek Srivastava in 2017, DroneAcharya offers an array of drone solutions for multi-sensor drone surveys, pilot training, and data processing, among others. Notably, the startup forayed into drone manufacturing and spacetech industry last year.

In September, the company said it was targeting 200% growth in revenue, EBITDA and profit after tax (PAT) in the financial year ending March 2025 (FY25).

Beside, the startup also said that it is aiming to achieve 4X growth in the total number of DGCA certified drone pilot training centres. 

DroneAcharya’s operating revenue increased nearly 90% to INR 35.19 Cr in the financial year ending March 2024 from INR 18.56 Cr in FY23. 

The company reported a consolidated PAT of INR 6.2 Cr in FY24, almost 2X increase from INR 3.42 Cr in the same period of the previous fiscal year.