Pvt firm to enter drone market

Diversified group JK Organisation on Friday announced its foray into India’s drone market in partnership with Canadian firm MicroPilot.

The USD 4 billion group through its company Deepti Electronics & Electro Optics Pvt Ltd (DELOPT) has joined hands with MicroPilot during the ongoing aero show in Bengaluru to capitalise on the ever increasing market of UAVs in India, the firm said in a statement.

The group is looking to tap the approximately ₹2,000 crore Indian UAV market, which is expected to grow at least threefold in the next five years, it added.

“Drones definitely have a big market here and while the defence wings and the state police have already identified its utility in terms of surveillance and monitoring, these flying robots are high on the wish list of agricultural department and entities involved in disaster management,” said Rajesh Kakkar, director DELOPT.

The JK Group has been focusing in the defence sector and providing electronic and digital solutions to the armed forces. It has been aggressively turning attention in the UAV and avionics segment, the statement said.

The partnership will look to seek synergies from the capabilities of the two partners.

MicroPilot offers a family of lightweight UAV autopilots that fly fixed-wing, transitional, helicopter, and multi-rotor UAVs.

It has also developed a full line of autopilot accessories, including compass module, analog-todigital converter, ultrasonic altitude sensor, configuration wizard and data modems. PTI