Local drone firms soar, but rare-earth roadblock a drag

India’s drone ecosystem is ramping up local manufacturing amid rising defence demand, policy push, and a swelling base of startups.

- Sakshi Sadashiv

While there's growing domestic capability in airframes, batteries, and software, critical components such as flight controllers, sensors, and motors continue to be largely import-dependent.

A key vulnerability lies in the reliance on rare earth magnets—essential for high-performance drone motors, which India currently lacks the capacity to produce at scale, industry executives said. With China tightening export controls on these magnets, especially for defence applications, industry executives warn this could become a bottleneck in India’s goal of building a fully self-reliant drone manufacturing ecosystem.