NeoSky to launch consumer drones for citizens by early next year

On September 14, NeoSky launched its anti-drone machine which can be used for tracking and capturing systems for rogue drones

Unmanned aerial vehicle maker NeoSky will launch its consumer drones early next year for personal use by citizens.

In an interaction with Moneycontrol, chief executive officer Sarath Chandra Gudlavalleti said that these drones can be used for occasions such as marriage, leisure, travel and other purposes. NeoSky is a wholly owned subsidiary of RattanIndia Enterprises Limited.

Gudlavalleti said that teams based in Delhi and Bengaluru are working to meet the planned introduction of the service by early 2023.

Apart from consumer drones, NeoSky has products in enterprise drones, where it sells the flying vehicle to governments, companies and defence forces.

It also plans to offer drones-as-a-service (DraaS), an industry which was touted to grow to Rs 30,000 crore by Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia.

RattanIndia Enterprises had recently announced that it acquired a 60 percent stake in drone company Throttle Aerospace Systems Pvt Ltd (TAS) through NeoSky.

“I think that's typically how most categories mature. So, when a category is at a nascent stage, you will see a lot of people who are subject matter experts in that particular area trying to solve a problem,” Gudlavalleti said.

“Once the product market fit starts to happen, when a problem is solved, and somebody sees a scale in the problem, and the commercial side of that problem, the industry then starts to mature,” he told Moneycontrol.

RattanIndia has entered the drone industry, which is largely populated by startups, at a time when Adani Enterprises has a 50 percent stake in drone company General Aeronautics, and Reliance Industries holds stakes in Asteria Aerospace.

Gudlavalleti believes that his company's focus is not on competition but on growth of the drone industry. “At this stage, the focus is to grow the pie rather than what percentage of the pie that you have. I have always believed in that if you look at 30 percent, or 50 percent, of a pie, which is as small as 10, versus a smaller percentage of the pie whose size is 10,000, or 1,000, I will always take the second, rather than the first,” he said.

“We must make sure that the industry grows; ensure we are doing the right thing for the long term, rather than the short term by focusing on our users, our customers; and keep solving their problems.”

On September 14, NeoSky announced the launch of its led its anti-drone machine 'Defender’. It is an indigenously developed drone by Throttle Aerospace Systems which can be used for tracking and capturing systems for rogue drones, the company said.

Disclaimer: Moneycontrol is a part of the Network18 group. Network18 is controlled by Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance Industries is the sole beneficiary.