Before we start, we would be happy to share your story to our readers. Wouldn’t it be a great way if they can hear it from you?
We are into Electronic Manufacturing since last 13 years, 2 years back we ventured into Drones. Initially BBPL Aero Pvt Ltd was a fully owned subsidiary of our other company “Bright Beginning’s Pvt Ltd” and then later on it was converted into a separate company. We started with Agri Drones but now we are making many models for almost all applications. Initially it was only assembly and testing of Drones and with passage of time we have started with frame manufacturing also. We have started with VTOL frame manufacturing for our main model. We will add carbon fiber rods and plates, after this we will add frame for our other VTOL models.
We have a fully automatic SMT and MI lines also for Pcb assembling. A Joint Venture with a European company is also in pipeline for manufacturing Drone Electronics, expecting it to start by the end of this year. It might take a year more but we intend to manufacture all Drone Electronics also then only we can have a better control on product quality. For software development our two associate partner’s works on client requirements.
How long do you consider to get final certification & to start production? Any Orders or LOI’s?
Our main product line doesn’t require type test certification, Lab certifications is needed which we get as per the client specifications. We are already in production. We already have an order of USD 2.85 mn and LOI for USD 6.65 mn for manufacturing of Nano Drones which has to complete till March 24. We are struggling with high lead time of electronic components but we are hopeful we will match this target date.
Talking about your unmanned offerings, what are the products & its capabilities in terms of civil and military application?
Our product range includes Surveillance Drones both Quadcopter & VTOL, Logistics VTOL, Tethered Drone, Mob Control Drone, Fire Fighting Drones. Our VTOL has high altitude capabilities. We have done successful Demos of Swarm drones too. We are adding up Hybrid Drones for better endurance and reliability. For few of our products to be used in civil applications we are in the process of applying type test certification.
How do you see India as an upcoming market? Which market according to you is the best; Defence or Civilian?
India market has huge opportunity and this market can grow multi fold. Both Defence and Civilian market has better opportunities but for Defence we need to have much better products and there is a long way to go to match international offerings. For Civilian market India already has good product range and Drones can be used in multiple applications so Civilian market is the best at the moment. Although getting type test certificate for each model is very costly and lengthy process specially when there is no surety on the order quantity. This will slow down adaption of new models in different applications in civilian market.
Where do you see BBPL Aero in the next five or ten years in the Indian market? Do you have specific markets in target?
In next 5 years we expect to see good results of all the efforts we are putting in doing right now in terms of investment, manufacturing frames and Electronics for our Drones in-house, Exporting Drones, catering to Indian Defence with latest technologies.
How do you think Indian drone manufacturers can reach the benchmarks set by International Companies?
Indian drone manufacturers have the technical strength and potential to reach these benchmarks. As we see in our other group manufacturing companies in other industries like Textiles, Lighting & Consumer Electronics India is already competing well with International companies. In Drones we can surely achieve as well as set new benchmarks but it has to be backed by strong product development and local raw material manufacturing specially Motors and Electronics.
Can you give us some valuable suggestions for the Drone-prenuers and the Drone pilots?
Persistence is the key word for all the Droneprenuers. The journey might get difficult at times, as most of the Droneprenuer’s are newbies in this sector like us who are into testing, inventing, pitching new ideas and putting their hard work. But after all the efforts, we have to rely on outsourcing of foreign products. We need to promote make in India and develop a reliable and technologically sound market for electronic components, motor and other products.
For drone pilots I just have one suggestion be very technically sound in your working as you are the whole sole person responsible for safety of the product and people around.
