India's Ministry of Defence clears ₹500 crore National Military Drone Technology Hub at IIT Kanpur

Key facts

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has granted in-principle clearance for a ₹500 crore National Military Drone Technology Hub at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.
• The hub will provide end-to-end capabilities for the design, testing, and certification of military payloads, data links, ground stations, and counter-drone systems.
• The proposal was prepared by the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), the principal nodal body for the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC).
• The Army Design Bureau has been appointed as the single point of contact for coordination to accelerate indigenisation under Make-1 and Make-2 categories.
• The hub will utilise UPDIC corridor nodes at Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, and Chitrakoot for distributed manufacturing and maintenance, repair and overhaul.