Drone Startup IoTechWorld Avigation Targets To Sell 3000 Agri Drones
Agri Drone Startup IoTechWorld Avigation, an inventor of agricultural drones, plans to market 3,000 drones this fiscal year, a six-fold increase from the prior year, as a result of increased demand from pesticide firms and agricultural institutes. Deepak Bhardwaj and Anoop Upadhyay created the startup IoTechWorld in 2017, and it has a manufacturing plant there. Agri drones cost approximately Rs 7.5 lakh + GST.
Dhanuka Agritech, a prominent agrochemical company, stated in 2021 that it will invest Rs 30 crore in IoTechWorld for a minority share.
IoTechWorld Avigation co-founder Deepak Bhardwaj remarked on the sidelines of an event on Saturday that “we sold about 500 agri drones during the last fiscal year as opposed to 100 drones in 2021-22”.
A new agricultural drone that is easier to transport and more compact was introduced as the company celebrated its sixth anniversary.
Due to a chip shortage in the previous fiscal year, he explained, “We were unable to complete all orders”.
Due to a chip shortage in the previous fiscal year, he explained, “We were unable to complete all orders”.
According to Bhardwaj, agrochemical companies, agricultural universities, and other governmental entities are the main sources of demand.
When asked about turnover, Bhardwaj stated that it was approximately Rs 45 crore in the previous fiscal year and is expected to increase several times in accordance with rise in volumes.
According to Upadhyay, the company is receiving several inquiries from international nations like South East Asia, Brazil, and Russia, and it hopes to begin exporting drones this fiscal year.
IotechWorld will continue to concentrate on agri-drones, but the company may look into offering drones in the defence and logistics industries, he said.
According to Upadhyay, “we are seeing many opportunities for using drones in precision agriculture and forest management”.
According to both co-founders, the government’s subsidy programmes have significantly increased the market for agri-drones. IoTechWorld and Syngenta India teamed in February to make drone spraying more widely available in India.
As part of the collaboration, the two businesses will cooperate to train and prepare rural kids for flying drones in order to create career prospects for them.
Bhardwaj stated, “We are targeting 2,000 agri-entrepreneurs who will serve farmers in the coming year”, adding that it would be a lucrative venture for them.
Bhardwaj emphasised the advantages of using agricultural drones and said that it only takes 7 minutes to spray agrochemicals over an acre of land.
Aside from that, uniform chemical treatments in the field from pesticide spraying with drones could increase productivity.
IoTechWorld Avigation Pvt Ltd. received the first Type Certificate (TC) under the Drone Rules, 2021 in June of last year from the Civil Aviation Ministry.
The “Certification Scheme for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CSUAS)” for acquiring a Type Certificate (TC) for drones was announced on January 26, 2022, while the “Drone Rules, 2021” were announced on August 25, 2021.