Drone procurement process needs to be fast-tracked: Drone Federation president

Moneycontrol's managing editor Dr Nalin Mehta hosted panel discussion on 'Defending Bharat" at Network18's Powering Bharat Summit 2025.

Drone Federation of India president Smit Shah said the procurement process of drones needs to be fast tracked and government should work with the industry to create a roadmap that’s beneficial for everyone.

“We need to plan for fast track procurement. We can't be running around for a potential solution when we have a conflict. What happens right now is one and half years of product development then one and half years of delivery. In this one and half years of delivery, those who did not get any order are at zero. What we need to do is multi-year long-term contract so that you have capacity every year,” Shah said during a panel discussion on “Defending Bharat” with Moneycontrol's Managing Editor Dr Nalin Mehta at the Powering Bharat Summit 2025.

The Powering Bharat Summit is organised by Network18 in collaboration with Moneycontrol, News18 India, and CNBC Awaaz, bringing together key government ministers and industry leaders to chart India’s journey toward becoming a developed nation by 2047.

Shah further said the procurement process is “slightly slower” as the nature of the process demands for more than one company to participate. “User and industry need to sit together and create a roadmap,” he said.

“Irrespective of what platform you are building, it has to be electronic warfare hardened. For that you need to develop a lot of ancillary technologies -- such as GPS jamming proof, RF communication jamming proof and so on.”

Agreeing with Shah’s call for fast track procurement process, Lt Gen (Retd) Inderjeet Singh, strategic advisor of ideaForge Technology, said the procurement procedure needs to be changed.

“We have to change our procurement procedures. Drones are a low-cost option which provide huge returns. We need to develop counter UAS technologies. We have a lot of work to do in both these areas,” Singh said.