Tata Elxsi and Garuda Aerospace Sign MoU at Aero India 2025 to Establish Centre of Excellence for Indigenised UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) Design and Development

The partnership focuses on developing indigenous UAV systems, including drones, sensors, AI-driven analytics, eVTOL Solutions, catering to defence, agriculture, and smart city applications.

Key Highlights

• Integration of AI/ML-driven solutions to enhance drone efficiency, achieving a 20% reduction in energy consumption and over 20% cost savings.
• Establishing a 100% indigenous vendor ecosystem for UAV development and manufacturing, reducing reliance on imports.
• Accelerating UAV development cycles by up to six months, supporting a rapidly growing market with significant potential.

BENGALURU, India, Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Tata Elxsi, a global leader in design and technology services, and Garuda Aerospace, a pioneering UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) manufacturer, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Aero India 2025, Asia’s biggest Airshow, being held from February 10^th –14^th. This partnership establishes a dedicated UAV design, engineering, and certification center to develop indigenous drone technologies specifically for Indian defence applications, along with agriculture, and smart cities, supporting the ‘Make in India‘ initiative.

Tata Elxsi and Garuda Aerospace are showcasing prototypes, designs, and operational UAVs at Aero India 2025. In addition, a demonstration of indigenised UAV components highlights India’s advancements in autonomous UAV technologies.

Tata Elxsi will lead the design, development, testing, and certification of UAV subsystems, leveraging its expertise in avionics, miniaturisation, ground control systems, secured communication, and energy optimisation. Its proven capabilities in avionics certification, including compliance with DO-254 and DO-178C standards, will ensure regulatory adherence and safety. By integrating its proprietary autonomous and digital twin technologies, AI-driven solutions, and advanced propulsion and battery management systems, Tata Elxsi will enhance UAV efficiency, reduce energy consumption by 20%, cut costs by over 20%, and accelerate development cycles by up to six months.

Garuda Aerospace, as an OEM with a strong presence in defence and other sectors, will lead business acquisition and delivery. The drones developed under this initiative will cater to multiple applications such as payload management, goods delivery, precision agriculture, and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance) missions, addressing critical operational needs across industries.

The Indian defence forces and Border Security Force are expected to be key beneficiaries of this collaboration, gaining access to cutting-edge UAV capabilities. Additionally, this initiative will create new employment opportunities and contribute to workforce development in the aerospace sector.

Jayaraj Rajapandian, Head of Aerospace, Rail & Off-highway, Tata Elxsi, stated: “Our partnership with Garuda Aerospace marks a major milestone in India’s aerospace ambitions. By driving AI-powered UAV advancements, we are strengthening India’s defence ecosystem and reinforcing the country’s self-reliance in aerospace technologies.”

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO of Garuda Aerospace, said, “This strategic collaboration with Tata Elxsi reinforces our commitment to indigenous innovation. Over the next three to five years, we will focus on fully indigenised production and supply of airborne and ground systems, strengthening India’s leadership in UAV technology.”

About Tata Elxsi

Tata Elxsi is amongst the world’s leading providers of design and technology services across industries including Automotive, Aerospace, Broadcast, Communications, Healthcare, and Transportation. Tata Elxsi is helping customers reimagine their products and services through design thinking and the application of digital technologies such as IoT (Internet of Things), Cloud, Mobility, Virtual Reality, and Artificial Intelligence. For more information, visit www.tataelxsi.com

About Garuda Aerospace 

Garuda Aerospace is India’s leading Drone tech start-up focused on disrupting two major multi-billion-dollar sectors, Precision Agri Tech and Industry 4.0 upgradation. Garuda Aerospace is asset-light, recession-proof, and agnostic and focuses on eliminating labourers in the agricultural field with drones focusing on designing, building, and customisation of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Founded in 2015 with a team of 5, Garuda has scaled to a 200+ member team, having the largest drone fleet in India with over 400 drones and 500 pilots operating in 84 cities. Garuda Aerospace manufactures 30 types of drones and offers 50 types of services. Having served over 750 clients, including TATA, Godrej, Adani, Reliance, Swiggy, Flipkart, Delhivery, L&T, Survey of India, SAIL, NTPC, IOCL, Smart cities, Intel, Amazon, Wipro, IISC, MIT Boston, NHAI for various projects, the company recently partnered with global giants such as Lockheed Martin, Cognizant and Elbit Systems. Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji launched the drone yatra, where 100 drones were flagged off simultaneously across 100 villages in India. Garuda Aerospace is the first drone company to get DGCA approvals for Type Certification and Remote Pilot Training Organisation. Garuda is on a mission to impact 1 billion lives positively using affordable precision Drone Technology. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has invested in the company and is the Brand Ambassador. For more details about the company, visit – https://www.garudaaerospace.com/

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SOURCE Tata Elxsi