The Andhra Pradesh government has inked a strategic partnership with Aerpace Industries to launch what is being billed as India's first 'Drone City' in the Orvakal region, near Kurnool. The project spans roughly 300 acres, chosen for its proximity to Kurnool airport and its feasible connectivity to a growing high-tech expansion corridor. As stated by the announcement, the site will be a complete ecosystem for drone manufacturing, component research, pilot training and testing infrastructure.
Aerpace Industries, which brings experience in defence drones, heavy-lift platforms, logistics drones, and AI-enabled systems, has been in discussion with the Andhra Pradesh government through its financial development board for some time. The discussions covered technical assessments, design planning and capability demonstrations.
With this partnership now formalized, Aerpace intends to set up a full-scale campus within the Drone City for the production of both civilian and defence drones, support component development, and conduct pilot training.
Besides manufacturing, the initiative will have an integrated pipeline of certification and regulatory compliance mechanisms, as well as research into next-generation autonomous platforms, energy systems and improved operational reliability. The training programmes will build a skilled workforce of drone pilots and technicians, thus creating employment prospects and strengthening the regional human capital base in the unmanned systems sector.
Drone City line up with Andhra Pradesh's broader objectives of developing innovation, attracting cutting-edge investments and positioning the state as a hub for the aerospace and pioneering mobility sectors. Building domestic capacity in drone manufacturing and related technologies will help the state reduce its dependence on imports and improve homegrown competitiveness in logistics, emergency response, defence and industrial operations.
The site selection, Kurnool, and Orvakal seem strategic, allowing rapid testing and deployment in a bounded space without the constraints of an urbanized setting. This partnership is a bold step by the Andhra Pradesh government into the fast-emerging unmanned aviation technologies. By leveraging Aerpace's domain expertise and making a dedicated physical ecosystem, the state is betting on drones as an important axis of future growth, employment and technological leadership.
Source: Silicon India
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