Coromandel International raises stake in drone start-up Dhaksha to 51%

Fertiliser maker Coromandel International, through wholly owned subsidiary Coromandel Technology, is acquiring an additional 32.68% equity stake in Chennai-based drone start-up Dhaksha Unmanned Systems for ₹204 crore.

The investment values the start-up at ₹625 crore and takes Coromandel’s holding to 51% stake. It had earlier acquired 18.34% in Dhaksha through investment arm Dare Ventures, the Murugappa Group company said on Thursday.

The move, enhancing the stake to a majority, is in line with the strategy to identify promising avenues of growth outside core operations in agri-inputs that would be value accretive for the shareholders. It will facilitate Coromandel’s presence in the fast-growing Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) segment where drones and its applications are expected to exponentially grow and reach a global market size of $90 billion by 2030, the company said.

Dhaksha, incorporated in 2019, is a leading player in drone space in India and provides a complete range of UAS technology solutions across agriculture, defence, surveillance and enterprise applications. It has been shortlisted under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for promoting the manufacturing of drones and drone components in the country in 2022 and in the process of building a strong order book.

″Our investment in Dhaksha marks a significant foray into next generation cutting edge UAS technology applications. In addition to driving resource efficiency and sustainable practices in agriculture, Dhaksha drones have high potential in defence and enterprise applications,″ Coromandel International executive vice chairman Arun Alagappan said.

Dhaksha also offers remote pilot training services and has trained over 950 pilots. It is the only player in the country to receive type certificates from DGCA for three drone models in medium and small categories for agriculture and surveillance applications. Besides operating in the electric drone segment, it is the only player in India to offer type certified petrol engine-based hybrid agri drones, Coromandel said.

″We see significant value creation opportunities for Dhaksha going forward,″ the start-up’s Director and CEO Ramanathan Narayanan said on Coromandel’s additional investment.