Adani Defence & Aerospace has entered into definitive agreements for acquiring 50 per cent equity stake in agricultural drone startup General Aeronautics for an undisclosed amount.
Bengaluru-based General Aeronautics specialises in developing robotic drones to offer tech-enabled crop protection services, crop health monitoring, precision farming and yield monitoring services using artificial intelligence and data analytics.
"The partnership between General Aeronautics and Adani Defence & Aerospace fuses our military and civilian objectives by integrating... Adani Group's military UAV capabilities with the capabilities of General Aeronautics thereby providing us with a platform with far reaching possibilities," Ashish Rajvanshi, CEO of Adani Defence & Aerospace, said in a statement.
The drone and drone services market in India is expected to grow rapidly and can reach Rs 30,000 crore by 2026, driven by the evolving policy framework, PLI incentives and the recent ban on imports of drones.
"I am delighted that Adani Defence & Aerospace is partnering with us to lead us into the next era of growth in this rapidly evolving space.
"I look forward to our partnership unlocking substantial scale, leveraging their vision and commitment to the unmanned capabilities which will help facilitate India becoming the drone hub of the world," General Aeronautics CEO Abhishek Burman said.