Garuda Aerospace set to spreads wings in Sri Lanka

Drone startup Garuda Aerospace has expanded its operations in Sri Lanka, the first as part of its Global Garuda initiative which aims to increase the company’s presence in 50 countries, its chief executive officer, Agnishwar Jayaprakash, told ET.

The Chennai-based company said it chose the island nation as the local drone policies were still developing and the new government was keen to promote technology and precision in agriculture and industries, seeking to reduce dependence on tourism.

"We are traditionally a precision agricultural drone company. This year, we've seen revenues touch over Rs 100 crore and we saw a lot of attention coming in from overseas for our precision agriculture drones in particular. So we felt this was the right time to start making measured and cautious steps to expanding in overseas markets,” Jayaprakash said. “Sri Lanka because of its proximity to India, its developing drone regulation and smaller market was the perfect launchpad for us before venturing into other regions."

Apart from agriculture, the company is also looking at homeland security and defence in terms of industrial and structural damage assessment, as Sri Lanka has a lot of infrastructure development ongoing, such as ports, airports and roads.