Three thousand – not a nod to Iron Man’s love for his daughter, but the annual production capacity of spraying agri-drones at Thanos Technologies’ new manufacturing unit in Jeedimetla, Hyderabad. With a 40-member team, including six dedicated to R&D, co-founder and CEO Pradeep Palelli discusses the business’s challenges and opportunities with EFY’s Yashasvini Razdan.
Q. Why did you choose to call yourself Thanos Technologies?
A. Thanos, in Greek, means everlasting impact which is what we intend to bring about in the agriculture sector.
Q. Where are you currently manufacturing these drones?
A. Right now, we are headquartered in Gachibowli, Hyderabad. Recently we upgraded to a larger production facility on the outskirts of Hyderabad, where we can produce 3000 drones annually. The facility is leased, but the entire equipment is ours.
Q. Why did you choose to self-manufacture instead of outsourcing the manufacturing?
A. We believe that unless we design and build the drones ourselves, we would not be able to provide comprehensive after-sales service, maintenance, and spare parts for this new high-tech technology in the segment. Additionally, considering the volume and the constant market demand in agriculture, adding more margin for someone else to manufacture would not make sense for us. We aimed to cut down costs while maintaining quality in every possible avenue.
Q. What kind of machines do you have?
A. Most of the work is done on primary cutting machines, such as CNC cutting machines and grinding machines, to manufacture the airframe and chassis. Following this, there may be a complex of welding machines, spot welding machines, and similar equipment, but the focus is on CNC cutting machines.
Q. What is the scale of investment you have made in this venture, and where, considering you are currently self-funded?
A. So, the machinery itself is not too expensive, I would say. We have invested more than one and a half million dollars in the last few years, with most of it directed towards human resources and other aspects rather than machinery. Our machines are reliable, and once set up, they require basic maintenance every once in a while.
Q. Could you brief me on your timeline, from when you started to now?
A. We started in 2016, showcasing our first prototype at WISAC in 2017. This attracted interest from major agricultural players like Syngenta and Bayer, positioning us as pioneers in India. Over the years, we conducted R&D trials and paid pilot projects in various regions, improving our drones alongside advancements in chemical formulations and operations. Despite regulatory uncertainties, we offered services, completed pilot projects, and customised drones for defence and educational sectors to stay operational. With the release of drone regulations in 2020-21, we certified our drones, resulting in over 300 sales across seven states, mainly in Southern India. A major milestone was IFCO’s order for 400 drones, with partial fulfilment and the rest due this year. We aim to supply over 1000 drones by the year’s end. Our team has grown from two to 14, with expertise in production, technical support, training, after-sales service, and administration. While we bootstrapped our journey, we recently secured a friends and family round and are now pursuing institutional investment, aiming to finalise it within the next three quarters.
Q. How many units have you sold?
A. Since 2021, we have sold 300 drones.
Q. What sort of revenue have you recorded?
A. Last year we closed with 200 million rupees.
Q. What is the price of one drone?
A. It is in the ballpoint of ₹500,000—- there are two versions, one is ₹550,000 while the other is ₹ 650,000 but for larger quantities, we do it in the range of ₹500,000 to ₹550,000.
Q. What is the difference between the ₹550,000 and ₹650,000 one?
A. There are three primary differences. One is the obstacle avoidance radars, which are present in the advanced version. Another one, is a small live video feed camera that records everything that happens in one direction. It can be used to record for a certain night if it is needed. The other one is the radio itself, which has an inbuilt screen and 4G SIM capability for internet purposes. The advanced version comes with an input for a 4G slot as well.
Q. How big are these drones?
A. When fully deployed, the drone covers an area of 152.4 centimetres by 152.4 centimetres. For transportation, it would be 152.4 centimetres by 91.44 centimetres.
Q. What prompted you to move into this segment?
A. I was involved in a startup where we were exploring drone applications for specific purposes. As an avid follower of tech magazines and news articles, I encountered new insights into how drones could transform existing systems through automation, intelligence, and other advancements. Drones are boundless in their potential, which fascinated me deeply and fuelled my belief in their limitless potential. I shifted focus to agriculture. Although it took some time and concerted effort to identify the precise problem statements within agribusiness, the journey was propelled by the boundless opportunities offered by drone technology.
Q. How has the penetration of drones in the agriculture market witnessed an increase?
A. Thanks to advancements in various components and motors, which were initially developed for other applications, agri-drones have become important. Some neighbouring countries have been using them for the last 12 to 15 years, while India started adopting them about seven to eight years ago. However, the majority of uptake has occurred in the last two to three years, especially since 2021 when drone regulations were introduced in India. Drones represent advanced technology and are high-ticket items. While this technology may be advanced, the result for the farmer is similar to any other technology, thus necessitating innovative business models.
Q. What is your primary revenue model?
A. We are one of the very few companies that designs and manufactures drones in-house, while many others import knockdown versions of spare parts for assembly. Our primary revenue model revolves around designing our drones locally, supplying them to the market, and providing after-sales service and spare parts. While we aim to target the agro sector, we are aware that small-scale farmers may find it challenging to afford our drones.
Q. Could you categorise your customer segments?
A. There are different customer categories — farmer producer organisations (FPOs) and krishivignan kendras and custom hiring centres that serve as service providers, ranging from small to large entities.
Large service providers who own fleets of drones ranging from three to even 25 operate across multiple clusters or districts, offering drone-based services. The government provides subsidy schemes and low-interest loans to facilitate the purchase of these drones, but they are not direct customers.
Some chemical companies have started implementing their own models by purchasing drones directly, deploying it in the fields and also partnering with service providers for additional support.
Q. What significant partnerships have you established to sustain this business model?
A. Our primary operation revolves around manufacturing and supplying drones and spare parts. We have partnerships for training, as operating drones requires specialised skills. These trained resources are deployed with service providers, ensuring smooth drone operation. We also partner with service providers to offer technical support, ensuring maximum uptime for the drones owned by our customers.
Q. What is the total cost of ownership for an individual for this product?
A. The cost of providing drone services comprises about 60-70% of the total expenditure on a drone. Other considerations include transportation, which can vary based on customer preferences and existing equipment ownership. Personnel are required for drone operation, including a helper, contributing to non-drone expenses that can make up as much as 30 to 50% of the total ownership costs. However, when considering only the drone, additional expenses, including extra sets of batteries and a charger are necessary, summing up to approximately ₹850,000, but not exceeding that amount. Aside from battery replacements, the maintenance costs for the drone itself are minimal with proper upkeep. Occasional expenses may arise for minor maintenance parts, such as propellers or nuts and bolts, totalling around ₹20,000 to ₹30,000 per year. Overall, diligent maintenance ensures these costs remain low. We do provide all these additional maintenance and support services
Q. Are the batteries replaceable?
A. Yes, the batteries can be recharged, but their lifespan is limited by the number of cycles they undergo. Typically, they need replacement every 12 to 15 months, costing around ₹200,000 to ₹250,000. This expense constitutes a recurring operational cost for the batteries.
Q. How do your spraying drones work, and what do they spray?
A. Our automated aerial agricultural spraying system is a 10-litre spraying drone that can maintain a constant speed and height above the field. Users can set parameters, which are flying height, speed, chemical dosage, and spray width through a mobile app provided by us. Using GPS coordinates, users can mark the field’s boundaries to create a spraying perimeter. With algorithms embedded in the app and flight controller, the drones can operate autonomously, resulting in better penetration of fertiliser/pesticide into the lower parts of plants, reducing chemical usage.
The substances that can be sprayed using drones include a wide range of liquid forms, from micronutrients to pesticides, along with recent advancements such as nano-urea and nano-DAP.
Q. What was the design challenge that you encountered while making this product and how did you solve it?
A. On the design front, our primary challenge was to maximise flight time and efficiency so that the drone could cover large areas in a given time. We had to build a rugged drone with minimal maintenance requirements and maximum flight time. Our goal was to provide farmers and service providers with the lowest maintenance costs, ease of operability, and the highest return on investment.
To achieve this, we used proprietary materials and incorporated specific design elements, including proprietary battery management system designs. These design choices ensured that our drones were among the most rugged and durable in the country, suitable for agricultural operations requiring 10-litre capacity drones.
Q. How did you increase flight time?
A. We had a higher flight time because we designed it in a configuration that could fit an agricultural route. We have improved it over time. The entire battery assembly, including the grid format in which we frame it, is proprietary. Until last year, we were the only company using lithium-ion batteries for spraying agri-drones. Everyone else is using lithium polymer batteries, which have a lower life or number of recharge cycles than Li-ion. We have been using this advanced technology since 2016-17 for higher flight time. We have been using 24,000mAh batteries since 2017, while most people were in the 16,000 to 20,000mAh range.
Q. Can you use any charger to charge this drone, or do you have a special charger?
A. Unlike electric vehicles which run on the ground, the charging requirements for drones and safety requirements differ. The entire charging infrastructure, including the balancing and maintenance, is outside the drone. We use special chargers which have inbuilt battery monitoring as well as battery balancing technology, so that you do not have to place any of that on the drone and burden it with additional weight. Instead of simple current or voltage supply, our chargers have their own intelligence so that the batteries are handled. But all this comes down to how someone is operating and charging and maintaining the batteries. There is an SOP that one must follow to make sure these are maintained.
Q. What is the innovation in the electronics that you have put into it to enable this feature?
A. The entire innovation lies in the placement design, form factor, and the grid. For the drone, the chassis, the material that we have used, the shape, the weight, and the choice of motors are our innovations. We use a different higher class of motors, adding a kilogram or two, but it makes the entire drone more efficient. We use certain ready-to-use modules for the internal circuitry, but the battery management system (BMS) is all Thanos! We plan to make it intelligent to get insights on battery health. That is the primary ask of all our customers. We are also working on newer battery technologies and intend to partner with more advanced battery cell manufacturing companies to improve the status quo compared to what we have done.
Q. Can this BMS be deployed in some other product?
A. This BMS is our IP, but it is not on the drone. We are building it with our battery contract manufacturing partner. The design is ours. Till date, there is not a lot of intelligence of a battery monitoring system on that one. Going forward, we will be building onboard solutions, but we are tackling the weight issue.
Q. What is the technical challenge in utilising this BMS for other products, such as EVs?
A. The main challenge in implementing the BMS for other products, like electric vehicles (EVs), lies in the significant current load required for their operation. Currently, our system draws around 70 to 80 amperes which requires the BMS to have adequate MOSFETs and other circuitry for safety, which adds a lot of weight. While we have managed to operate without it, plans prioritise its inclusion for enhanced battery reliability and monetary capabilities. However, the challenge lies in reducing the weight of the BMS while maintaining its functionality. Despite our focus on innovation in drone design, chassis, and battery optimisation, integrating BMS technology into other products requires addressing this weight and capability balance.
Q. Where are you sourcing the raw material and components for your drones?
A. Majority of our processes are handled in-house. We have some industrial-grade 3D printers for producing non-load-bearing components. For specific components like the power distribution board, we source from a Hyderabad-based company called Vector Techniques. For materials such as the plastic dome covering the drone’s electronics, we rely on a small local vendor of plastic parts. We invested in the injection molding process, reducing the cost of that part from as much as 1000 rupees to as low as 80 rupees. While we indigenise certain aspects, we depend on outside vendors for power distribution boards and batteries. We also source components and raw materials from a wide variety of suppliers in India, the US, Europe, Taiwan, and China.
Q. What other electronic features have you incorporated into this drone?
A. The onboard GPS helps the drone in marking the boundaries of the entire field. The GPS tracks the drone’s position, corrects it if need and sends the feedback to the user via the mobile application.
We utilise a terrain radar to ensure our drone maintains a consistent height above the ground. While most are flat terrain, some areas may feature slopes ranging from 5 to 10 degrees. Once we establish the desired height above the ground, typically 2 or 3 metres above the crop, this slope calculation is essential for ensuring uniform chemical distribution. To achieve this, the radar continuously adjusts to account for changes in terrain elevation, ensuring the drone maintains a steady altitude despite varying slopes. This technology plays a vital role in achieving consistent spraying patterns across diverse terrain.
We have also incorporated obstacle avoidance sensors which allow the drone to detect and avoid a crash in an autonomous scenario. In a manual scenario the sensor enables the drone to stop when it is at a certain distance from the obstacle by sensing it. Sensors, including the liquid flow sensors allow you to collect data regarding how much liquid is flowing and take an action accordingly.
Q. Are you collecting this data and storing it somewhere?
A. By default, all the data is stored on the device, for analysis later. With regards to the spraying, we make a note of the acreage, the dosage of spraying, in the mobile application. For a single drone this is fine, but if someone were to operate a fleet of drones, there is a cloud-based version that we offer where all this data is synced over the internet. If you have a 4G or LTE- enabled phone or SIM card and an internet-connected area, this data keeps getting synced and can be monitored by a fleet manager who is taking care of all these operations.
Q. Who is the cloud service provider here?
A. It is a third-party app that we use with a similar cloud-based solution. It is an AWS-based cloud, but this is something we are trying to internalise in the future, with our own software solutions.
Q. Do you intend to use this data, and sell it to some other entity like banks or insurance companies?
A. Not as of now as this is currently unstructured data. Currently we use aggregate automation platforms, but once we launch our aggregate intelligence platforms, which will have multi-spectrum sensors and other data-collecting platforms, we can give better insights for better settlement of claims, or product usage trends.
Q. What are the different regulatory aspects with the manufacturing and operation of drones? What are the certifications required?
A. There are four major regulatory aspects for drone operation in the commercial sector — a drone certificate (DC), issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), a drone pilot licence for the person operating the drone, a unique identification number (UIN) for every, akin to a number plate for vehicles, and a third-party insurance. Every manufacturing company must generate a UIN for each drone they produce. It is affixed to the drone, indicating that it is type-certified. The type certificate includes all required certifications per the scheme outlined by the Quality Council of India, which owns the certification scheme.
Q. What are the different steps for certification?
A. DGCA issues the certificate, and the certification process involves several steps. These steps include mechanical and electronic component testing, including demonstrating battery reliability through certifications like the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS). Mechanical tests assess factors, such as chassis load capacity and the number of take-offs and landings the drone can withstand. Additionally, adherence to standards like PIS or ASTM is evaluated. All these criteria are outlined in the Quality Council of India’s scheme, and once satisfied, they recommend certification to DGCA. DGCA then issues the necessary certifications, allowing manufacturers to produce drones openly.
Q. Do you also provide any support or assistance with respect to licences and training services or connecting your customers with the required entities?
A. The customer requires two primary things: the drone pilot licence and third-party insurance. We have partnerships for both. The drone pilot licence is issued by authorised entities called remote pilot training organisations, which are DGCA-authorised entities allowed to conduct training and issue certificates as licences to pilots. We have several partnerships with such entities in Mysore, Pune, Chennai, Northern Central India. We connect our customers based on their location to these specific entities.
Several insurance companies have recognised the drone sector and started issuing policies two to three years ago. National India and New India are two companies we work with, and we also have a few partners for that. Through them, we can issue insurance policies for our customers.
Q. What is the current challenge that you are facing with respect to your growth?
A. The shortage of trained technicians or pilots is a challenge which some of our customers face, which can hinder growth. This can be overcome by partnering with skill training institutes, colleges, or other entities.
Funding is also a bit of a challenge, as it is a capital-intensive business. Unlike SaaS or software companies that can scale up exponentially, our growth is more linear. This makes it necessary to target specific investors with an understanding of manufacturing. While regulations are now in place, funding and investor interest still come at a slower pace compared to technologies like AI. Nonetheless, we are gradually seeing increased interest, albeit not at the rapid pace of other sectors.
Q. What is the skill set that you are looking for that you have in the people who are employed in the factory?
A. For production, we prefer individuals from IT backgrounds, ideally with a fitting or mechanical background, or they would have come from an agriculture background. In the first month, they also undergo training. Specialised pilot training is also given to the ones joining the testing team.
Q. What kind of investment are you putting into human resources?
A. We regularly train our employees, testing them monthly to assess if they need further upgrading. Externally, we collaborate with national skill training institutes and a few other organisations to create programs or provide on-the-job training to candidates, preparing them for full-time employment. We offer a one-month internship, which can extend into permanent job offers. We have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the National Skill Training Institute in Hyderabad, and we plan to establish similar ties with other institutions as well. We also partner with remote pilot training organisations (RPTOs) to train skilled pilots and collaborate with NSDIs (national skill development institutes) or other training institutes to develop skilled technicians for production and after-sales service.
Q. Are you looking to add any new channel partners or distributors for expansion?
A. This is the year when we will build a network of dealers and service centres. We have started appointing distributors and dealers across the country because we understand that we cannot have brick-and-mortar stores in every major district in the country. Recently, in Madhya Pradesh, we appointed one dealer. We are looking at others in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and in Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra. Currently our drones have been operating in states where our service technicians are regularly travelling to resolve any customer queries.
Q. So, what is the ideal profile of these dealers and distributors that you are looking for?
A. They preferably need to have previously dealt with either a factory or a company that has their network in those areas, where they want to become leaders and understand how things work, how to set up your sales process, marketing process. They are the ones we will be tying up with so that there is no time wasted on additional training to enter the market.
Q. And are you looking for any new vendors?
A. Yes, we are always on the lookout for someone who can offer even better-quality raw material, at a better price, since our raw material procurement size has been growing as we expand. We are still dependent on a few materials to be outsourced. We do have good, stable partners and vendors now, but we are looking for people who can provide a better price and preferably locally.
Q. Could you elaborate on your future investment plans?
A. A lot of manufacturing work still happens manually, which is why we do not have very advanced equipment that costs millions of dollars. As the demand increases, we plan to increase the automation levels within the next two-to-three years by including an automated assembly line where the components will be put together to form the entire drone itself.
