AIF Approves First-ever Agriculture Drone Loan for Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace

The Agri Infra Fund (AIF) has approved the first-ever drone loan for a ‘Kisan drone’ made by Chennai-based Garuda Aerospace.

AIF functions under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and has spearheaded many schemes that are farmer-centric.

Samuel Praveen Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare said that “AIF has a target to facilitate loans up to Rs. 1 lakh crore into the Agri Infra ecosystem and recently we crossed ₹10,000 crore”.

Kumar informed that the first loan is only an in-principle sanction subject to submission of the Type certificate which is awaited.

Agnishwar Jayaprakash, Founder and CEO of Garuda Aerospace said, “Ever since PM Modi flagged off the Garuda Kisan Drone yathra in February, where he flew a hundred drones simultaneously in hundred villages across the nation, our goal has been to get loan approval sanctioned for our type certified Kisan Drones.” 

He added that “Garuda Aerospace has already pre-booked more than 2,500 drones and would manufacture one lakh Made in India Kisan Drones by 2024."