Optiemus launches drones for agricultural and mapping, plans ‘drone as a service’ model | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Optiemus Unmanned Systems (OUS) on Thursday launched its new range of indigenously designed and manufactured drones in agricultural and mapping category at the 5th Drone International Expo at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.
OUS is also moving towards ‘drone as a service’ model to reach out to target markets and for that it aims to train around 6,000 pilots to manage a fleet of 5,000 drones by the end of 2025.
The OUS will be investing around ₹140 crore in this project and targeting a service revenue of around ₹600 to ₹900 crore by the end of calendar year 2025.
The company targets to achieve a minimum of 65% localisation and plans to increase it to 75% by the end of this financial year. It claims to have already localised various components including power distribution board, anti-spark switch, flight controller, airframe, and motor.
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For after-sales service and support, OUS will have a set of drones and drone components on standby and also a team with the relevant technical and operational qualifications.
The two drones launched today were Agri Shakti 10L and Vajra QC P20.
The Agri Shakti 10L is an agricultural drone that can fly for up to 15 minutes and supports a 10-liter spray tank capable of spraying 1 acre in approximately 7 minutes. It will start at ₹2.25 lakhs plus GST.
The Vajra QC P20 is a precision agriculture and mapping drone of about 2 kg and with a flight duration of 30+ minutes. It has a maximum range of 4 km with a survey area of 0.5 to 1 sq. km. It can be used for precision agriculture like optimising crop health, and yields.
“The potential for this business is huge given the benefits it serves; we are set to leverage our expertise in drone technology to offer a cost-effective and efficient solution for agricultural and defence needs,” said Ashok Kumar Gupta, Chairman, Optiemus Infracom Limited.
