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

Surging Canadian drone, software, systems, and artificial intelligence company Draganfly has announced a manufacturing and distribution partnership with Hyderabad-based geospatial technological company Remote Sensing Instruments (RSI), designed to provide it access to the expanding, but also protected UAV market in India.

Draganfly revealed the accord Tuesday, officializing RSI’s future role in developing and orchestrating the manufacturing, distribution, and sales of the company’s drones and related products in India. The pairing with a local partner for its business activities in the country will considerably facilitate Draganfly’s entry and expansion in India under the nation’s AatmaNirbhar Bharat, or Make in India policies designed to encourage – if not require – domestic production of goods in various sectors.

Read more: Eyeing ‘global drone hub by 2030’ status, India bans foreign drone imports 

In acting as local overseer of Draganfly’s drones from manufacturing to retail sales, RSI will draw on its long experience providing geospatial informational data analysis products, services, and analytics in India and across South Asia markets.

In addition to its focus on satellite and drone-sourced data, RSI has also pursued the development and marketing of geospatial infrastructure, provision of technical support and training for numerous geographic information systems, remote sensing services, and custom application development.

Draganfly’s link-up with RSI and entry into India comes at a time when some analysts estimate the country’s drone activity is set to experience compound annual growth of nearly 10.25% between this year and 2028.

“It is significant for Draganfly to have been pulled into one of the largest, if not the largest, drone markets in the world,” said Draganfly CEO Cameron Chell. “The opportunity to be manufacturing and distributing in the Indian market provides a potential scale for us that is years ahead of schedule from what was initially thought possible.” 

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RSI CEO Ramana Kumar Buragadda said the partnership with Draganfly will strengthen the business of both companies, while also satisfying the requirements – and what critics call protectionist constraints – of the country’s Make in India policy.

“This agreement will enable us to expand our distribution and manufacturing capabilities, furthering our investment in the Indian market under AatmaNirbhar Bharat,” Buragadda said. “The UAV market in India is growing day-on-day, and RSI being a front runner in getting the right technology into the country, found the right partner and right time to enter the Indian Market. It gives us immense pleasure to contribute our tiny part into the self-reliant vision of Prime Minister Modi in making India the manufacturing hub of the world… Draganfly is an industry leader in drone innovations and their collaborative approach is uniquely complementary to RSI.”