The $4-billion JK Organisation's defence arm, Deepti Electronics & Electro Optics Pvt. Ltd. (DELOPT), has inked a pact with a Canadian drone maker Micropilot, marking a deeper entry into the booming drone business in India.
“Drones definitely have a big market here and while the defence wings and the state police have already identified its utility in terms of surveillance and monitoring, these flying robots are high on the wish list of the agricultural department and entities involved in disaster management,” said Rajesh Kakkar, Director, DELOPT.
Although the firm has been making electro-optics, day and night vision cameras, thermal imagers, automated target trackers and other key products that are mounted on drones, this is the first time that the company will be offering an overall solution for UAV platforms.
The Indian UAV market is worth nearly Rs 2,000 crore and is expected to grow at least three-fold in the next five years.
"The ability to deploy increasingly reliable small-sized drones, loaded with sophisticated and miniaturised payloads, managed with stronger control and autonomy, with better communication systems and networking, has increased their usage in both military and homeland security applications. A majority of these applications today are for Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR)," Kakkar added.