Tata Elxsi partners with Garuda Aerospace to set up drone design, certification centre

Design and technology service provider Tata Elxsi on Wednesday announced a partnership with domestic drone maker Garuda Aerospace for setting up a design, engineering, and certification centre to develop indigenous drone technologies. 

The collaboration, announced at Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru, focuses on creating Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) subsystems for Indian defense applications, agriculture, and smart cities, aligning with the 'Make in India' initiative. 

Tata Elxsi will handle the design, development, testing, and certification processes, utilizing its expertise in avionics, secured communication, digital twin technology, and AI-powered automation. Garuda Aerospace will manage business acquisition and delivery.

The partnership aims to expand business and applications in defense, precision agriculture, and logistics, among others. "By driving AI-powered UAV advancements, we are strengthening India's defence ecosystem and reinforcing the country's self-reliance in aerospace technologies," said Jayaraj Rajapandian, Head of Aerospace, Rail & Off-highway, Tata Elxsi.

The new Center of Excellence will incorporate AI/ML solutions to boost UAV efficiency, cutting energy consumption and costs by over 20%, while establishing a fully indigenous vendor ecosystem to reduce import reliance and expedite UAV development cycles by up to six months, the company said.
Tata Elxsi recently reported a 3% year-on-year revenue increase in Q3FY25, from Rs 914 crore to Rs 939 crore, although it saw a 2% decline from the previous quarter. The transportation sector grew by 4.4%, driven by a $50M deal with a European OEM and partnerships with Nidec and Emerson. 

The company plans to expand into Japan and emerging markets while exploring new fields like defense and semiconductors, to achieve double-digit constant currency growth for FY ’25 despite market challenges.

Garuda Aerospace has also partnered with Thales, Rajasthan Electronics (REIL), HFCL, DRDO, and the Central University of Jammu to bring in more innovation in drone technology at the Aero India event. It further plans to set up a drone production facility in Malaysia with a production capacity of about 50 drones per day, the company said earlier this week.

"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," said Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder & CEO of Garuda Aerospace, said in a statement.