India's Deep-Tech Disruptors

Hundreds of indigenous start-ups are creating new business models, unlocking billion-dollar markets and opportunities. How can the country leverage deep-tech?

- JOE C. MATHEW

ON AVERAGE, EVERY FIVE MINUTES, a drone made by Navi Mumbai-based ideaForge Technology takes off for surveillance and mapping. The deep-tech company is the first private firm to indigenously develop and make vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) in the country.

Two other firms—Agnikul Cosmos and L2M Rail, are pushing the frontiers of deep-tech to reinvent mobility. Agnikul has built the world’s first single-piece 3D-printed rocket engine fully conceived and made in India, reducing the time to build an engine from years to a few weeks. It can potentially crash time and cost of rocket launches. L2M uses sensors and connected devices to provide real-time updates about the condition of railway infrastructure to prevent accidents.

Drones, mobility are just one aspect of the rapid strides new and old Indian firms are making in deep-tech. The companies working to solve seemingly intractable problems for the world include Uravu Labs (making water from air), 5C Network (using AI in medical radiology) and Newtrace (working on halving green hydrogen costs through a new electrolyser). Their work has far-reaching implications for India’s deep-tech ambitions.

Deep-tech is technology based on scientific or engineering breakthroughs that has commercialisation potential, says International Finance Corporation. Deep-tech companies are R&D-intensive and multi-disciplinary. India’s draft National Deep Tech Start-up Policy (NDTSP) 2023 defines deep-tech as “a solution along an unexplored pathway based on new knowledge within a scientific or engineering discipline or combination of knowledge from multiple disciplines.”