The Survey of India: Garuda Aerospace Maps 7000 Villages by Drone in 1 Year

Garuda Aerospace Maps 7000 Villages by Drone in 1 Year, Setting Record

by DRONELIFE Staff Writer Ian M. Crosby

Drone start-up Garuda Aerospace has completed a mapping project of 7,000 villages within Uttar Pradesh under the Svamitva Scheme.

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The company won the tender from The Survey of India back in September 2021, granting authorization for the deployment of drones for large scale mapping and digitizations of land records in rural areas. This authorization provides land-owners and farmers with precise digital land certificates, as well as an exclusive ID that entitles them to a meticulous layout of their full property. To conduct these mapping operations, Garuda Aerospace deployed 15 fixed-wing drones, each capable of mapping at a speed of 8 to 10 sq kms per hour.

Through the agency of the Svamitva Scheme, Garuda Aerospace intends to play a major role in carrying out the Prime Minister’s goal of digitizing land records and eliminating land and property disputes. Garuda Aerospace has succeeded in mapping 7,000 villages out of 1,40,000, which is to date the highest number of villages mapped by a drone company within the span of a year. The company seeks to improve farming techniques through the advancement of technology, the reduction of costs, and through offering drone loans and subsidies.

“We at Garuda Aerospace are extremely proud as we got a chance to fulfill the government’s dream to provide landowners their rights and also map and digitize land records. We have completed over 7000 villages in UP in the last one year and hope to deploy drones and target a few more villages in the next couple of months,” said Garuda Aerospace Founder and CEO Agnishwar Jayaprakash. “We introduced a fixed wing drone which looks like an airplane with wings and can cover a significant area within minutes; The drone is also equipped to sprinkle fertilizer on land thus saving time and protecting farmers from exposure from harmful chemicals. These are also enabled with AI and ML for mapping. We hope that we are able to empower the farming community, will continue to deploy our drone for the purpose of mapping and will work closely towards developing new and improved solutions in order to achieve our PMs vision.”

Garuda Aerospace possesses a drone fleet consisting of 400 drones and a highly qualified team of more than 500 pilots throughout 26 different cities. Recently, the company initiated its $30 million Series A round at a $250 million valuation. Garuda Aerospace’s Brand Ambassador, former Indian cricket team captain Mahendra Singh, has also invested in the company.

Read more about drones in India:

• ANRA Drone Tracking Solutions Demonstrated in India: Monitoring Small Drone Operations
• Determination to Be a Global Drone Hub Clear in Indias First Government Approved Drone Announcement
• “Medicine from the Sky” ANRA Continues to Develop Drone Delivery Framework in India
• Drones in India: BVLOS Drone Delivery for Food and Medicine
• Can Drones Control Locusts in India?

Ian attended Dominican University of California, where he received a BA in English in 2019. With a lifelong passion for writing and storytelling and a keen interest in technology, he is now contributing to DroneLife as a staff writer.