JSW Defence to Set Up Rs 850 Crore Drone Facility in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: IT and industries minister D. Sridhar Babu on Tuesday said that Telangana is keen to play its role in protecting the country by becoming its "defence strategic hub".

After laying the foundation for JSW Defence's advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) facility at the Electronic Manufacturing Cluster (EMC) in Maheshwaram, Sridhar Babu said that drones, satellites, cyber systems, and artificial intelligence are now pivotal in modern warfare, making self-reliance in drone manufacturing essential for national security.

The Rs 850-crore project, a partnership between JSW Defence and US-based Shield AI, will manufacture the next-generation Group 3 VBAT drone under a long-term Transfer of Technology (ToT) agreement.

The JSW project aligns with Telangana’s drone manufacturing and testing corridor plans amid India’s UAV market, which is projected to reach $4.4-$5 billion by 2030.

Spanning 16 acres, the state-of-the-art facility will produce up to 300 VBAT drones annually, featuring integrated production lines, maintenance, repair, overhaul (MRO), assembly, and testing capabilities for an end-to-end UAS ecosystem.

The VBAT, a fixed-wing VTOL platform with a patented ducted design, offers long-endurance intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) for tactical operations in hostile environments, and is already in use by US Marine Expeditionary Units.

Operations are slated to begin by the last quarter of 2026, creating around 300 skilled jobs and establishing a local supply chain to serve the Indian Armed Forces, while positioning India as a global production hub.

JSW Defence founder Parth Jindal described the project as a major defence technology transfer, emphasising operator training and innovation to strengthen national self-reliance. Shield AI’s India MD, Sarjan Shah, praised JSW’s expertise for deepening Indo-US defence ties through this world-class indigenous production setup.