IAF Receives 10 Bids For ₹30,000 Crore Defence Drone Deal; HAL,Tata, L&T In The Race

Around 10 bids have been received from Indian public and private sector firms for a defence ministry project worth more than ₹30,000 crore to procure 87 medium-altitude long-range endurance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Indian Air Force (IAF).

The bid submission window closed on 16 June, after being extended twice by the ministry to give Indian firms more time to prepare their responses.

Who Has Bid

Among the companies that have submitted bids are Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Solar Defence and Aerospace Limited, Adani Defence Systems, Tata Advanced Systems Limited, Larsen and Toubro (L&T), and Raphe mPhibr Limited.

To reduce production bottlenecks and speed up manufacturing, the order will be split between the lowest bidder and the second-lowest bidder, effectively setting up two separate production lines for the project.

What The Drones Will Do

The project was cleared by the defence ministry last year with the aim of promoting Indian manufacturers to build drones intended for surveillance and reconnaissance, along with the ability to strike targets. The UAVs are expected to come equipped with advanced surveillance and combat features, including real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. Plans are also in place to integrate indigenous missile systems with these drones.

The armed forces finalised the specifications for the drones through a detailed scientific study, reflecting the growing need for effective surveillance along India's borders with both Pakistan and China. Until now, Indian forces have relied heavily on foreign suppliers, particularly the United States and Israel, to meet their drone requirements. This project is aimed at reducing that dependence on imported defence equipment.

Broader Push On Drones

The Indian Army's Directorate General of Army Air Defence has separately issued a Request for Information (RFI) for three new aerial target systems, including a swarm-drone target system, under the Buy (Indian-IDDM) category, which requires a minimum of 50% indigenous content.

The Indian Air Force has also launched a separate project to co-develop indigenous long-range Kamikaze drones, with a limited tender already issued to select Indian companies for developing One-Way Attack Unmanned Aerial Systems (OWA-UAS).

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Record Defence Production

In a related development, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India's defence production touched a record high of ₹1.78 lakh crore in FY26, registering growth of 15.6% over the previous financial year.

Sources:

The Economic Times

CNBC TV18