About Garuda Aerospace Limited

Overview

Garuda Aerospace is a pioneering drone technology and aerospace engineering startup with the largest drone fleet of 400+, pilots exceeding 500, and footprints across 83 cities. The company has two manufacturing facilities located in Thalambur, Chennai—with 24,000 sq. ft. (the original unit) and 35,000 sq. ft. (the new Agri-drone indigenization facility). 

A 28-year-old Chennai-based entrepreneur inspired by a Harvard lecture demonstrating drone technology returned to the homeland to build India’s drone industry. The name Garuda, inspired by the bird eagle, signifies speed and accuracy in air, and they seek to blend the same qualities in their drones. 

Agnishwar Jayprakash started the company in 2015; back then it enjoyed the first-mover advantage and operated in the regulatory grey zone—DGCA had no formal rules and regulations until 2018. Within a few years, Garuda has made its remark and evolved from a 5-member team to a 200-member organization. 

Current Scale:

• Reported INR 117.7 Cr in revenue FY25—scaled 150% from INR 47 Cr FY23.

• PAT has grown 179% from 6.2 Cr (FY23) to 17.3 Cr in FY25. 

• Earning per share is outrageously priced at 1572.73—signifying very high valuation 

• Drone Fleet: 400+ drones, Pilots: 500+, and spread across 84 cities,

• Drone Models: 30+

• Manufacturing capacity: 8000 drones per year 

• Clients: 100+ government agency partnerships and 500+ private clients 

  • Corporate clients include TATA Group, Adani Group, Reliance Industries, Godrej, and others

  • Government agencies include the Survey of India, IFFCO, NHAI, SAIL, and others

• Trained Pilots: 100,000 plus

• Garuda has raised $49.5 Mn of funding till date

• The company has closed latest Series B round and raised $12 Mn with the valuation of $250 Mn.

• Some of the notable shareholders include TATA, Adani, ISRO, and MS Dhoni. 

How does Garuda make money? 

Garuda operates on a vertically integrated business model—capturing value across entire drone lifecycle. It manufactures drones, provide DaaS services, train pilots with DGCA-approved curriculum, creating an interlocking revenue stream where each segment reinforces the other.

Revenue Stream 1 – Drone Hardware Manufacturing and Sales

This is the cornerstone for Garuda’s self-reliance, where it manufactures drones that support its other business divisions. Agri-Indigenization facility has been set up to manufacture 33 parts and 7 subsystems for aerial vehicles – this was a strategic move to reduce supply chain risk of importing materials that has been reduced to mere 15% in FY25 as compared to previous 40-45%. Garuda is reinforcing its alignment with Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative. 

As of now, Garuda manufactures the following categories of drones:

• Agriculture drones (Kisan Drones—PM-KUSUM aligned; most volume)
• Defense/Surveillance UAVs (for DRDO, defense forces) 
• Consumer drones (MS Dhoni branded "Captain" series—research this product) 
• Industrial inspection drones (for Godrej, SAIL, and Adani) 
• Logistics/delivery drones

Here the revenue is made.

Revenue = Price per drone x Volume of drone

• The company is planning its expansion from 8000 units to 12000-15000 units per annum and export in 50 countries. 
• Garuda is a direct beneficiary of the incentive under the PLI scheme. Under the PLI scheme, the Govt of India has allocated 120 Cr towards drone & components manufacturing. Garuda is eligible to receive 20% of the value generated. 
• Garuda has also partnered with defense manufacturing agencies like HAL and BEML—it will further streamline the production pipelines and future cash flows. 

Revenue Stream 2 – Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS)

Garuda deploys its own fleet and pilots to execute drone services. Garuda charges service fee that varies as pay per acre, per project, and per hour. Its Drone-as-a-Service is used as follows:

• Agricultural spraying (fertilizer, pesticide, fungicide—Kisan Drone scheme)
• Mapping and surveying (topography, construction progress monitoring)
• Industrial inspection (thermal imaging, ultrasonic thickness testing for pipelines, power lines)
• Surveillance and security (government events, border monitoring)
• Disaster management (COVID sanitization, flood survey, NDRF operations)
• Logistics and delivery (last-mile delivery—what stage is this?)
• Mining (volumetric surveys, blast monitoring)
• Warehouse management (inventory drones)

The company provides its services to government agencies that work on a fixed price and corporate clients that tend to vary as per outcome.

Revenue Stream 3 – Remote Pilot Training Organization (RPTO)

Garuda also operates as a DGCA-approved Remote Pilot Training Organization, meaning that the company is legally certified to train commercial pilots. The company has also launched the Train-the-Trainer program to upskill drone operators and create a skilled workforce capable of supporting the company's scaling ambitions. It has established 300-plus training centers and trained 100,000+ operators.

Garuda makes revenue in this segment by collecting a training fee per pilot.

Garuda has also partnered with REIL to run its training program at REIL’s campus in Jaipur, Rajasthan. 

Revenue Stream 4 – Defense & Strategic 

Garuda has partnered with defense agencies such as DRDO to co-develop unnamed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to facilitate Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and combat support. The primary defense products include:

• Vajra Stealth Drone
• Airbus Flexrotor
• Surveillance Fleet
• Tactical Combat Drones
• Rescue Drones
• Underwater Drones
• Military Simulators

Competitive Landscape 

Listed drone peers

• IdeaForge Technology
• DroneAcharya 
• Zen Technologies 
• Paras DefenseH

Private Competitors 

• Asteria Aerospace 
• IoTechWorld Aviation
• Throttle Aerospace 
• Skylark Drones

Funding & Valuation