Garuda works around India’s drone import ban with new international partnership accords

India’s services company Garuda Aerospace says it’s extending the reach of its work-around to the nation’s 2022 protectionist ban on drone imports – and the gaping hole created by excluded DJI craft – through a new agreement with a quintet of specialized international producers compliant with those restrictions.

Chennai-based Garuda announced the accords this week with drone makers from the US, Canada, Israel, Germany, and France for what it described as the “nation-wide distribution of their drones across the defense, security, and civil infrastructure sectors.” The company does not explain how the partnerships will legally skirt India’s 2022 ban on UAV imports, but says it will serve to scale their respective businesses and customer needs by filling “the void left by DJI” being excluded from domestic markets.

Garuda says the deals were concluded with Titan Innovations, Easy Aerial, Azur Drones, Aero Sentinel, and Securiton,…