Garuda Aerospace Limited Unlisted Shares

ABOUT THE COMPANY:

Garuda Aerospace Private Limited is one of India’s fastest-growing drone companies operating in the aerospace and defense industry. Founded in 2015 in Chennai by Agnishwar Jayaprakash and Rithika Mohan, the company started as a college project with an initial investment of nearly ₹50 lakh. Over the last decade, Garuda Aerospace has evolved into a major player in India’s drone ecosystem with a strong presence across agriculture, defense, mapping, mining, industrial inspection, disaster management, and drone-enabled services.

The company operates as a fully integrated drone platform rather than just a drone manufacturer. Its business model is built around four major verticals:

• Drone Manufacturing
• Drone-as-a-Service (DaaS)
• DGCA-certified Pilot Training
• Maintenance & Support Services

GLOBAL DRONE INDUSTRY MARKET SIZE:

The global drone industry is witnessing one of the fastest growth phases among emerging technology sectors. The market was estimated at nearly US$21.1 billion in CY22 and has grown at a CAGR of around 19% between CY18-22. The industry is expected to grow even faster at nearly 20% CAGR and reach approximately US$51.4 billion by CY27 and nearly US$91.3 billion by CY30.

GLOBAL DRONE MARKET TRANSFORMATION:

In CY22, the global drone market was largely dominated by the defense segment which accounted for nearly 48% of the total market. Enterprise applications contributed around 33%, consumer drones around 17%, while logistics remained very small at below 1%.

However, by CY27, the industry structure is expected to change significantly:

• Enterprise segment expected to rise to 41%
• Defense share expected to reduce to 33%
• Logistics expected to increase sharply to 15%
• Consumer segment expected at around 11%

This shift indicates that the next wave of growth may come more from commercial and industrial use cases rather than only military demand.

INDIAN DRONE INDUSTRY MARKET SIZE:

India’s drone ecosystem is entering a structural growth phase supported by government policy reforms and rising industrial adoption. The Drone Rules 2021 opened the sky for commercial drone operations by simplifying approvals and regulations. Along with this, the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme is encouraging domestic drone manufacturing and component localization.

India’s drone market is estimated at nearly US$1.21 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach around US$2.58 billion by 2033.

India has also built a relatively regulated ecosystem with:

• 38,500+ registered drones
• 39,890 DGCA-certified remote pilots
• 244 approved training organizations

PRODUCTS & SERVICES:

Garuda Aerospace has built a diversified drone portfolio across agriculture, enterprise, and defense applications.

Product Categories

The company mainly operates across:

• Precision agriculture drones
• Industrial drones
• Defense drones

Its agriculture drones are used for:

• Precision spraying
• Crop health monitoring
• Seed spreading
• Pest and disease detection
• Pollination assistance

Industrial drones are used for:

• Survey and mapping
• Inspection and monitoring
• Videography
• Infrastructure assessment

Defense drones focus on:

• Surveillance
• Reconnaissance
• Tactical operations

DRONE AS  A SERVICES (DAAS):

Apart from manufacturing, Garuda is increasingly building a recurring-service business through Drone-as-a-Service.

Its agriculture solutions include:

• Precision spraying
• Soil mapping
• Crop monitoring
• Harvest assistance
• Environmental monitoring

Safety and disaster management solutions include:

• Riot management
• Firefighting support
• Disaster relief operations
• Tear gas management

Industrial inspection solutions include:

• Mapping
• Monitoring
• Inspection
• Videography

This service-oriented approach can potentially improve recurring revenues and customer stickiness over the long term.

MANUFACUTRING CAPACITY:

Garuda Aerospace is aggressively expanding its manufacturing capabilities and focusing on localization.

The company currently operates:

• A 24,000 sq ft manufacturing facility in Chennai
• A new 35,000 sq ft Agri-Drone Indigenisation Facility near Thalambur

Current production capacity stands at around 8,000 drones annually, with plans to increase:

• To 15,000 drones in the near term
• To 50,000 drones over the long term

Production capacity has already doubled from:

• 12,000 units in FY25
• To 25,000 units targeted in FY26

REVENUE MIX:

Garuda Aerospace currently derives:

Around 70% revenue from agriculture

• 15-20% from defense
• 10-15% from enterprise applications

This indicates that agriculture remains the core growth engine for the company.

Promoter Background:

Garuda Aerospace was founded by Agnishwar Jayaprakash and Rithika Mohan, who transformed a small college project into one of India’s leading drone startups. Both founders come from management and business backgrounds and have played a key role in building Garuda Aerospace’s presence across agriculture, defense, and enterprise drone applications.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash – Founder & CEO

Agnishwar Jayaprakash leads the overall strategy and expansion of Garuda Aerospace. Under his leadership, the company has emerged as a major player in India’s drone ecosystem.

Education

• Business Law – Annamalai University
• MBA – Queens University of Charlotte
• PLD – Harvard Business School

Rithika Mohan – Co-Founder

Rithika Mohan has been instrumental in driving the company’s marketing, branding, and business development initiatives during its growth journey.

Education

• Business Management – Christ University
• PLD – Harvard Business School

Former Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni invested in Garuda Aerospace in 2022 and also serves as the company’s brand ambassador, significantly increasing the company’s visibility and brand recognition.

Key Partnerships

Garuda Aerospace has signed major international partnerships that strengthen its global positioning.

Airbus Helicopters Partnership

Garuda partnered with Airbus Helicopters for deployment of the advanced Flexrotor Uncrewed Aerial System.

Under this agreement:

• Garuda may acquire up to 18 Flexrotor systems
• Focus areas include defense and long-endurance surveillance
• The partnership supports Garuda’s global leasing ambitions
• This significantly strengthens Garuda’s capabilities in advanced ISTAR operations.

Lockheed Martin Partnership

Garuda also partnered with Lockheed Martin CDL Systems.

The partnership focuses on:

• Integrating Indian drone hardware with advanced UAS software
• Joint development of mapping and analytics solutions
• Applications across agriculture, mining, and industrial inspection

Funding & Valution Overview :

Garuda Aerospace has raised funding across seed, Series A, and Series B rounds from investors including Venture Catalysts and MS Dhoni’s investment firm. The company has reportedly raised nearly US$51.9 million to support manufacturing expansion, technology development, and drone service operations. It is now preparing for a proposed ₹1,000 crore IPO.

FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE:

Garuda Aerospace has delivered strong financial growth over the last few years as drone adoption accelerated across agriculture, defense, and enterprise applications. The company’s revenue grew sharply from ₹47 crore in FY23 to ₹117 crore in FY25, representing nearly 149% growth in just two years. This reflects rising demand for precision agriculture drones and drone-enabled services.

Profitability also improved during the period. EBITDA increased from ₹10.9 crore in FY23 to ₹21 crore in FY25, while PAT grew from ₹6.2 crore to ₹17.3 crore, reflecting nearly 179% PAT growth. Despite rapid expansion, PAT margins remained relatively stable at around 13.9% in FY23 and 14.7% in FY25.

However, gross margins came under pressure during the period. Gross margin declined from nearly 80% to around 52.5%, mainly due to dependence on imported components such as motors, controllers, and sensors. This highlights the importance of the company’s ongoing localization and indigenization strategy.

Balance Sheet & Working Capital

One of the biggest concerns for Garuda Aerospace is its stretched working capital cycle. Receivable days increased sharply from 287 days in FY23 to 356 days in FY25, indicating slower collections from customers. Inventory days also remained elevated due to scaling operations and manufacturing expansion.

As a result, the company’s cash conversion cycle increased from 280 days in FY23 to 351 days in FY25. This indicates that a large amount of capital remains tied up in receivables and inventory, creating pressure on operating cash flows and increasing funding requirements during expansion.

Peer Comparison & Valuation

IdeaForge Technology remains one of the key listed peers in India’s drone industry. While IdeaForge revenue declined from ₹186 crore in FY23 to ₹161 crore in FY25, Garuda Aerospace delivered significantly faster growth with revenue increasing from ₹47 crore to ₹117 crore during the same period.

In valuation terms, IdeaForge trades at around 184x P/E and 6.1x P/B, while Garuda reportedly trades at nearly 140x P/E and 13.2x P/B. Garuda commands premium valuation expectations due to its faster growth trajectory, leadership in agricultural drones, service-led business model, and aggressive manufacturing expansion.

However, both companies continue to operate with very high working capital cycles. IdeaForge’s cash conversion cycle remained extremely elevated at around 667 days in FY23 and nearly 597 days in FY25, while Garuda’s increased from 280 days to 351 days. This highlights one of the key financial risks in the drone industry where delayed collections and large institutional contracts can significantly impact cash flows.

Key Risks:

• Dependence on imported motors, controllers, and sensors can impact margins and supply chain stability
• High receivable days and stretched cash conversion cycle may pressure cash flows
• Nearly 70% revenue comes from agriculture, creating sector concentration risk
• Drone regulations and defense policies can change rapidly
• Rising competition from domestic startups, defense-focused players, and global drone manufacturers
• Rapid technological changes require continuous R&D and innovation spending

CONCLUSION

Garuda Aerospace has emerged as one of India’s fastest-growing drone companies, benefiting from strong industry tailwinds, government support, and rising adoption of drones across agriculture, defense, and enterprise applications. The company has built a diversified drone ecosystem through manufacturing, Drone-as-a-Service, pilot training, and maintenance solutions.

Its strong revenue growth, leadership in agricultural drones, strategic partnerships with global aerospace players, and focus on indigenous manufacturing position it well for long-term growth in India’s expanding drone market.

However, the company also faces key challenges including high working capital intensity, dependence on imported components, and elevated valuation expectations. Going forward, Garuda’s ability to improve localization, manage cash flows, and scale operations efficiently will be critical in determining whether it can emerge as a long-term leader in India’s drone ecosystem.