India will be a key player in drone space in coming years

The ongoing Ukraine crisis highlights the importance of being self-reliant on defence technology for a country like India. As international relations evolve with ever changing geopolitical relationships in the current context, India has embarked on a path of being self-reliant on critical defence technologies in the coming years. It has launched programmes like Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat to design, develop and manufacture military equipment in the country. Drones are undeniable part of modern warfare now as seen in the Russia-Ukraine war. India is encouraging participation of private enterprises to design and manufacture drones that can give the country a significant edge in a conflict environment. In a conversation with Bizz Buzz, CEO of Paras Aerospace, Pankaj Akula said apart from production-linked schemes (PLI), the government should provide export-linked incentives for encouraging Indian private companies to export key military products like drones. The company, which is part of Paras Defence & Space Technologies, has partnered with Israel firms to design, develop and manufacture both industrial and military drones in India for both domestic and international markets.

Not only for Ukraine crisis, each country has to be self-reliant in terms of defence technology. With regard to this, government's push towards 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' are helping very much the MSME sector and we are able to indigenise technology with the support from the government. As we see, alliances are formed overnight and are broken overnight. The only thing that will help us in a scenario in the future is that we need deterrents and own technology can help us in this regard. Therefore, we firmly believe that India needs to be self-reliant in all technologies

India is the largest importer of defence technology and reducing it in the near-term will only reduce our strength and deterrent capabilities. Rather, all the industries should be encouraged to export with incentives. Like PLI (production-linked incentives), if export-linked incentives are provided, all companies will start looking global. This will not only earn us forex, but also will create employment

In the wake-up Ukraine invasion by Russia, how important is it for India to be self-reliant in defence technology space?

Not only for Ukraine crisis, each country has to be self-reliant in terms of defence technology. With regard to this, government's push towards 'Make in India' and 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' are helping very much the MSME sector and we are able to indigenise technology with the support from the government. As we see, alliances are formed overnight and are broken overnight. The only thing that will help us in a scenario in the future is that we need deterrents and own technology can help us in this regard. Therefore, we firmly believe that India needs to be self-reliant in all technologies.

When can India reduce import of defence equipment substantially? Will this happen in a decade? How does Paras Aerospace see this space as a private player?

Arms import may not come down significantly in the short-term but arms exports will increase. In defence business, 10 year is a very short time. Typical time required for developing critical projects like submarine, aircraft is around 7-15 years. So, we should first aim at boosting exports. That is the reason that the government has set an export target. Against this backdrop, the government should grant additional incentives to companies if they bag an export contract.

If we talk about Paras Aerospace, we have our own products. We are also manufacturing for many OEMs and establishing international partnerships. We will be shipping to the global customers. So, reduction of imports is not the answer in the near-term. India is the largest importer of defence technology and reducing it in the near-term will only reduce our strength and deterrent capabilities. Rather, all the industries should be encouraged to export with incentives. Like PLI (production-linked incentives), if export-linked incentives are provided, all companies will start looking global. This will not only earn us forex, but also will create employment.

Paras Aerospace has qualified for the PLI scheme launched by the government. Can you throw some light on what are the future plans of the company with regard to drone technology?

I started my career as a scientist with the Government of India. I have complete experience of aerospace projects. In Paras Aerospace, our primary aim is to be a leading manufacturing company. There are two major verticals. One is for products in which Paras does design, develop and manufacture products and also partners with international OEMs for manufacturing in India. At Aerospace, we have two major verticals- one is for industrial drone vertical and another for military drone vertical. In industrial drone vertical, we are catering to all kinds of aircrafts. Drones are of multiple types and we are almost present in all kinds of platforms either through our own development or through our international partners. But these will be manufactured in India. Initially, our international partners started to manufacture here for Indian market. But once they saw our processes, efficiency and performance, they have recognised India as the immediate alternative to China. Therefore, we see immense potential not only in domestic market but also for international market. For international clients, we are looking at manufacturing at least 20 different kinds of drones.

On the drone subsystems, which include sensors, multispectral cameras, ground control systems, and all other flight control hardware along with the software part called as drone IT, we are developing it under PARAS.AI. Leveraging this product, we are enabling autonomous inspection of power lines. In agriculture, we are delivering two products. One is Agri Kisan drones with a 10 litre spray tank and the other one will be with a multispectral camera that can detect various kinds of infections. We will be ready with this multispectral drone product in 4-5 months. We have both design and manufacture capabilities, which put us on a good stead. Drones can be used in all sectors and this throws open tremendous opportunity for us.

What are your engagements on the military drones side? Do you have partnership with international organisation in this aspect? Also, will the Ukraine crisis disrupt any technology transfer that is going on now?

We don't have any Russian partnership as there is a different model that is followed in Russia. All our partnerships are in Israel. Israel has one of the leading defence technology companies in the world. In defence, we have partnered with Spear from Israel. We are developing one of the world's first advanced lethal drone. Here, any person from the law enforcing agencies or military can carry the one kg small drone on the backpack and launch from his hand. Here, the target can be attacked in a radius of 7-10 kms. The lethal drone system will be ready soon. We are also developing other applications that can be used for military purposes.

On the manpower front, we are supported by the teams of Paras Defence. We have around 36 people dedicated persons for Paras Aerospace, which will be increased to around 100 in seven to eight month time period.