India, Oct. 6 -- India's drone industry has expanded rapidly, but building a globally competitive ecosystem will require more than assembling aircraft domestically. Critical components and subsystems, from motors and batteries to autopilots, sensors and cameras, remain central to the country's ambitions for self-reliance.

Pankaj Akula, CEO of AKSI Aerospace Group, argues that India needs to build ownership of the underlying technology stack while giving private companies greater access to government R&D infrastructure and funding. AKSI currently has an order book of about Rs.220 crore and a pipeline of more than Rs.100 crore. In an interaction with Dataquest, Akula discussed drone subsystem indigenisation, the company's manufacturing amb...