India eyes more than $2bn military drone purchase in biggest order yet

NEW DELHI: India is likely to place orders worth more than $2 billion for military drones from domestic manufacturers this year, in what would be its largest such procurement so far, according to the head of an industry body that works with the government.

Smit Shah, president of Drone Federation India, said the plans were at an advanced stage and that deliveries were expected over the next 18 to 24 months. He said the projected value marked a sharp increase from recent government contracts worth 30 billion rupees ($313 million) for tactical-class drones.

Shah said the next round of tactical drone purchases in India could cross 200 billion rupees, or more than $2 billion. He added that the expected orders may be processed through a fast-track procurement mechanism intended for urgent operational requirements, with deliveries likely required within two years.

India’s move comes after clashes with Pakistan in May last year, when both countries used unmanned aerial vehicles on a large scale for the first time, underlining the offensive role that relatively inexpensive drones can play. The wars in Ukraine and Iran have also accelerated drone adoption globally, lowering costs and changing battlefield methods.

Fast-track acquisition push

In March, India’s defence ministry approved a proposal valued at about 2.38 trillion rupees ($24.85 billion) for the acquisition of transport aircraft, missile systems and remotely piloted strike aircraft, or armed drones, though it did not provide a category-wise breakdown of the spending.

Ramesh Chandra Padhi, an executive at IG Defence, which builds advanced unmanned aerial and short-range missile systems, said drones had become increasingly important in warfare.

“Drones are force multipliers on the modern battlefield,” said Ramesh Chandra Padhi, an executive at IG Defence, a builder of advanced unmanned aerial and short-range missile systems.

Padhi, a former senior army officer, said the Indian army was using emergency or fast-track procurement procedures to speed up the induction of drones on a very large scale.

Expanding domestic drone sector

According to Shah, India has 600 firms involved in manufacturing drones, with more than 100 of them focused on defence-related applications. The broader industry includes major groups such as Adani Group, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Advanced Systems, along with startups including ideaForge, Newspace Research and Asteria Aerospace.

These companies are working across a range of systems, including reconnaissance platforms, logistics drones, loitering munitions, precision-strike systems and critical drone components.

In recent years, India has revised what had long been a slow defence procurement framework to enable quicker drone acquisitions, particularly after clashes with Pakistan highlighted weaknesses in surveillance and strike capability. New Delhi has increasingly turned to emergency procurement powers and faster procedures under the Defence Acquisition Procedure, shortening timelines from years to months.

At the same time, the government has been prioritising domestically produced systems as part of its effort to expand local manufacturing. It has also widened programmes such as Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) to support prototypes and help smaller companies secure early orders and scale up production faster.