12th January 2023, National: India’s leading drone startup Garuda Aerospace has announced its partnership with the Union Bank of India. 150 Garuda Agri Kisan drones have received sanction for Loan under the Kisan Pushpak Scheme. The drone loan will help farmers to digitise land record operations for crop production, spraying of fertilizers, chemicals, growth promotors, pesticides, etc with the help of drones. The partnership will be useful for lead generation, customer acquisition, sourcing of applications, and due diligence of customers for credit deployment.
Garuda Kisan Drone is the 1st to receive the Agri Drone loan in July 2022 from Union Minister of Agriculture and farmer welfare Mr Narendra Singh Tomar. Agri Infra Fund (AIF) has about 1 lakh crore out of which 1000 crores have been allocated to Drones. The AIF Loans are collateral-free and can secure up to Rs.10 lakhs with 3 months of EMI relaxation and a 5% interest rate for the youth and farmers. This development will help youth to buy drones and will help them earn around Rs.75000 to Rs.1 lakh per month.
Speaking on the Partnership Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO Garuda Aerospace said, “Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji flagged the Garuda Kisan Drone Yatra in February 2022 where 100 Agri Drones flew simultaneously in 100 villages across the country. Garuda’s goal is now to export 10,000 Drones to 100 countries in the next 6 months. As Union Bank of India (UBI) has a Pan India presence and a wide network of branches the partnership with Gruda Aerospace will help to provide farmer-centric products in the field of Agriculture. The Agri Infrastructure Fund Scheme will finance 150 drone applications that will benefit the farmer community and create 150 skilled pilots who will engage to become entrepreneurs and improve farmers income. Garuda Aerospace has started training 1 lakh youth free of cost and is targeting to sell 5000 drones before March 31st.”
On occasion, Mr Rajesh Kumar, Senior Manager, Katchikatti Branch, Madhuri said that “The tie-up with the drone manufacturing company Garuda Aerospace, is the first of its kind in the industry, this tie-up will benefit both the organisations for the promotion of drone in use of agriculture sector and credit flow to Kisan Drones. In Union Budget 2022, the Government of India has announced several incentives for drone financing wherein Farmers/Entrepreneur can avail of interest and benefits for farmer’s growth.”
Mr Raj Kumar, DGM, Madurai region, “The partnership with Garuda Aerospace for Agri Infrastructure Fund Scheme and capital subsidy under Sub-Mission on Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM). Bank has launched the Union Kisan Pushpak Scheme for financing Kisan Drones in the field of digitalisation of land records and operations in crop production, spraying of fertilizers, chemicals, Growth promoters, pesticides etc. This will help the farmers in growing their crop yield and improve their income”
Garuda Aerospace is the 1st drone Company to get Both DGCA approvals for Type Certification and Remote Pilot Training Organization. Garuda Aerospace boasts a fleet of 400 drones and a well-trained team of over 500 pilots in 26 cities across the country. Former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni represents the company as it’s Brand Ambassador.
