Drone maker ideaForge bets big on indigenisation for armed forces

The Army signed a $20-million deal with the Infosys-backed drone maker last week

When Indian and Chinese forces were engaged in Ladakh last year, the Indian Army realised it needed better vigilance. The army floated an order for a large number of unmanned aerial vehicles, popularly called drones.

Last week, the army signed a $20-million contract with home-grown drone maker ideaForge, to procure undisclosed quantities of a high-altitude variant of SWITCH UAV, an indigenous system used in surveillance operations. While the Indian armed forces have inducted ideaForge drones in the past, this is, by far, the biggest single order the company has landed. 

Founder Ankit Mehta, an IIT alumnus who started ideaForge in 2008, while