Adani Enterprises said Friday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Adani Defense Systems and Technologies, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire a 50 percent stake in General Aeronautics, which provides robotic drones and drone-based crop protection solutions.
“Adani Defense Systems and Technologies Ltd will leverage its military drone and AI/ML (artificial intelligence/machine learning) capabilities and partner with General Aeronautics to provide end-to-end solutions for the domestic agricultural sector,” said Adani Enterprises in a regulatory Friday filing.
It is an all-cash deal and the acquisition is expected to close on July 31, it added.
According to research firm Research and Markets, India’s drone industry estimates that the country’s unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) market will be worth USD 1.81 billion (or Rs 13,575 crore) in fiscal year 2025-26. The Drone Federation of India estimates that the sector will reach Rs 50,000 crore within five years.
General Aeronautics is an end-to-end agri-platform solutions provider based in Bengaluru, India and founded in 2016. It provides robotic drones and drone-based solutions for crop protection services, crop health, precision farming and yield monitoring using artificial intelligence and analytics for agricultural sector.
Adani Defense Systems and Technologies specializes in the development and production of systems including electronic warfare, avionics, training and simulation, and radars. Adani Defense has established India’s first unmanned aerial vehicle manufacturing facility, India’s first private sector small arms manufacturing facility and is currently setting up India’s first comprehensive aircraft MRO facility in Nagpur.
In 2019, Adani Defense Systems and Technologies had also acquired Alpha Design Technologies Pvt Ltd. Alpha Design Technologies provided Adani Defense and Aerospace with a strong tier-1 capability to build a foundation for graduating into platform capabilities.
Adani Group’s flagship company Adani Enterprises Ltd (AEL) posted a consolidated net profit attributable to owners of Rs 304.32 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2022. Consolidated revenue grew 83.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021-22 to Rs. 25,141.56 crore, compared to Rs 13,688.95 crore in the year-ago period, according to stock exchange filings.
Shares of Adani Enterprises rose 32.40 points, or 1.58 percent, on Friday to close at Rs 2,080.10 apiece on the BSE.
Gautam Adani speaks in Davos
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos in Switzerland on Thursday, Adani Group chairman and founder Gautam Adani said international alliances are built on a slick foundation of self-interest and India needs to step up and strengthen self-reliance across all sectors – from vaccination to defense and semiconductors.
“Almost every leader I spoke to acknowledged, and some even stated explicitly, that a new and more sophisticated arms race may now be on the way. Alliances will be formed and reformed around defense agreements and many countries may prioritize defense production and purchases as a non-negotiable aspect of self-reliance,” he said.
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