Tata Steel partners with drone startup AUS for effective mine management

Tata Steel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS), a Bengaluru-based startup, to develop and offer sustainable and end-to-end integrated mining solutions.  

Under the MoU, both the companies will focus on the efficiency, safety, and productivity of open cast mining operations.  

The partners will also work to provide exclusive drone-based solutions including mine analytics and geo-technical mapping, to Tata Steel group companies across various stocks and mining locations in the country, an official statement said. 

Since November last year, AUS has been working closely with the steel sector behemoth to provide state-of-the-art drone technology to modernise its mining operations. The latest contract will focus on using remote mine monitoring to improve efficiency, safety, and productivity of the mines.

“We are excited to work with AUS again, this time for a longer duration and with a broader vision of sustainable development,” said DB Sundara Ramam, Vice President, Raw Materials, Tata Steel. 

He added, “We also intend to offer our learnings to the rest of the world’s mining companies as a professional solution from our fully owned unit, Tata Steel Industrial Consultancy Limited.” 

Tata Steel’s key mining sites are certified under EMS ISO 14001, the international environmental management standard. Its Noamundi Iron Mine has also recently been accorded 5-star rating for sustainable development for the year sixth time in a row. 

The company is further looking to leverage the government’s “Atmanirbhar Bharat” programme and regulatory changes to meet captive raw material requirements beyond 2030 by creating a sustainable mining business, it said in a statement.  

Vipul Singh, Founder and CEO, AUS, said, “Accuracy, reliability and consistency of data is critical in the mining sector, and our solutions will be able to improve Tata Steel’s productivity and efficiency and contribute to modernise their mining operations”.