Billion-dollar opportunity behind India's drone revolution: A look at startups building core technologies

India is experiencing a massive transformation in the drone industry and its related components. From Defence and Surveillance to Smart Agriculture and instant deliveries, drone technology is increasingly becoming essential rather than optional as it undergoes a rapid structural shift. In 2026, India's drone industry is creating new career paths, business opportunities, and technological breakthroughs along with rapid expansion.

After the Ministry of Civil Aviation liberalised the drone rules and the Rs 120-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, the domestic drone market is estimated to reach a valuation of $13 billion by 2030. Previous market attention was focused on simple assembly, but now the investors have shifted toward deep-tech startups pioneering indigenous core technologies.

Earlier, Indian drone and its components manufactures were operated largely as aggregators, relying completely on global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receivers, imported flight controllers and motor electronic speed controllers. As a result, it created severe supply-chain vulnerabilities, especially for defence procurement. Currently, multiple tech startups, including drones, are successfully manufacturing complex and critical components that widely cover their battery, energy storage systems, battery management technologies and testing infrastructure, making it purely an indigenous technology.

Kajal Shah, Co-founder and CEO of Dreamfly Innovations, said the country's drone revolution is creating opportunities across the broader technology value chain. "At Dreamfly Innovations, we believe India's drone revolution is creating a much larger opportunity than drones alone. The real value will be created by companies building the critical technologies that power these platforms—advanced batteries, power electronics, propulsion systems, and other mission-critical subsystems. As defence and commercial drone deployments scale, these enabling technologies will become strategic assets for the country. Our focus has always been on building world-class energy systems for aerospace and defence applications. We see a significant opportunity for Indian deep-tech startups to create globally competitive products in areas where performance, reliability, and engineering excellence matter most. The next generation of industry leaders will be the companies that own and innovate within these core technology layers."

The battery acts as critical component

Industry experts also believe that drones always capture more attention, making the technology that powers and supports these platforms increasingly important as both military and commercial applications expand. Among these components, battery systems are emerging as a critical component, directly influencing drone performance, endurance and operational effectiveness.

Saurabh Markandeya, Co-founder and CTO of Dreamfly Innovations, said battery technology will play a defining role in the future development of the sector. "From our perspective at Dreamfly, batteries are one of the most important technologies underpinning the future of drones. Flight endurance, payload capacity, operational safety, and mission reliability are all fundamentally linked to the quality of the energy system. As drone applications become more sophisticated, battery performance is increasingly becoming a key differentiator rather than just a supporting component," he said.

"We see a tremendous opportunity for India to build leadership in advanced battery technologies, intelligent battery management systems, thermal safety, and aerospace-grade manufacturing. The startups developing these capabilities today are not simply supplying components—they are creating the technological foundation required for India's long-term leadership in drones, aerospace, and defence. The stronger India's battery ecosystem becomes, the stronger its drone ecosystem will be," Markandeya added.