Why drone cos are looking beyond defence for clients

India's drone startups are rapidly tapping commercial opportunities beyond defence contracts by expanding into healthcare and quick commerce deliveries, even as the sector struggles to scale amid regulatory fog, industry executives said.

- Sakshi Sadashiv

NEW DELHI:

Companies like ideaForge, which started by catering to the Indian defence forces, are diversifying their client base within the defence sector itself, while others like Skylark Drones and Skye Air Mobility are consciously choosing to avoid government contracts altogether, instead betting on the private sector to scale faster.

Ankit Mehta, co-founder of ideaForge, said that traditionally the firm wasn't offering drone-as-a-service—where companies rent or hire drones (and operators) for specific tasks rather than buying and operating the drones themselves.

"But now we are. We're building our own flavour of drone-as-a-service, which can be a really strong play for enterprise security and surveillance, as well as for law enforcement activities." However, Mehta pointed out that defence continues to remain their core customers.