Drone company IdeaForge to enter new segment

New Delhi: Indian drone major IdeaForge is now going to enter “logistics at scale” by developing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that can carry payloads of up to 100 kg to a distance of 100 km. This, the company’s co-founder & CEO Ankit Mehta says, could “potentially its foot in the door for developing urban air mobility solutions.”
The company has recently set up a subsidiary in the US and is showcasing its products to end customers there. “None of our critical subsystems come from geography of concern (read China) and that puts us in a unique position. We have given a stock and sell licence to our subsidiary there. Our products are used extensively for surveillance and mapping,” Mehta said.
“We are very vertically integrated in technology. We get (some) subsystems from geographies that are not of concern. The ability to ship from here as become real. North America has a very clear embargo on specific Chinese OEMs, as well as they have embargo on components coming from specific countries in the world. We are exploring some other markets also,” he said.
Western geographies are moving away from China in critical areas due to many risks with respect to cyber security. The US had banned China-made UAVs in 2020 due to security concerns. Many other countries, including India, share the same. The rapid evolution drone ecosystem in India over the last two-three years has made desi UAVs acceptable in all such geographies.
“Our drones are being extensively used for the Swamitva scheme in India that involves landholdings in all villages to give ownership titles. ” Mehta said.