In collaboration with the ICMR and MoES
1. Background and Rationale
Drone technology has become increasingly important across various defence and civilian sectors (e.g. military, security, agriculture, construction, logistics, etc.) due to its ability to perform tasks efficiently, safely, and cost-effectively. India's drone ecosystem is strong in applications and assembly of drones, but less developed in foundational technologies at the component & sub-assembly level. While domestic firms have advanced in assembling airframes and software solutions, critical components and subassemblies remain heavily import-dependent. These include motors, ESCs, high-C Li-ion cells, GNSS modules, secure radios, low cost EO/IR camera modules, Spectral imagers, LiDARs, Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payloads, and advanced sensors.
With this basis, ANRF is launching a MAHA Program on Drones: Components & Sub-Assemblies Research & Innovation, intended to address potential Strategic, Economic, and Innovation challenges and to strengthen the national drone ecosystem, positioning India to build holistic, end-to-end capabilities in the drone sector.
2. Vision and Mission Objectives
This program aims to establish national capability in foundational drone technologies and transition India from an assembly-driven ecosystem to an innovation-driven, component-secure ecosystem.
The mission seeks to:
The program will catalyse collaboration between academia, national laboratories, deeptech startups, MSMEs, and industry through structured consortia comprising these entities with credible and compelling collaboration.
3. Scope of the Program
The mission will address problem statements that span the full life-cycle of drone subsystems: materials, design, integration, testing, and certification-within the six thematic domains outlined below. While a set of Key Problem Statements is provided, submissions are not restricted to these topics. Alternative problem statements may be considered, provided they define clear, measurable numerical targets and include a strong justification demonstrating how they achieve or surpass current global state-of-the-art standards.
.a) Propulsion and Energy Systems - advanced Li-ion cells, PEM fuel cells, hybrid propulsion units, cells with alternate architecture/chemistry with equivalent capabilities, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Develop a high-C lithium-ion or silicon-anode cell (capable of 10C continuous and 20C pulse discharge, while maintaining a gravimetric energy density >300 Wh/kg) utilizing materials manufacturable at scale in India. |
| 2. | Demonstrate a sub-2 kg lightweight PEM fuel cell stack capable of delivering >1 kW of continuous reliable power, enabling >4 hrs of continuous UAV flight endurance. |
| 3. | Build a hybrid turbine-generator system (10-15 kW output) for heavy-lift UAVs achieving a 30% lower weight-to-power ratio compared to current state-of-the-art Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) alternatives. |
b) Smart Materials and Adaptive Airframes - morphing wings, self-healing polymers, lightweight composites, low-acoustic composite propellers, thermal isolation chamber, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Develop an active morphing wing prototype for a <25 kg UAV that measurably increases aerodynamic endurance by >20% compared to rigid fixed-wing baselines under dynamic turbulent flight conditions. |
| 2. | Design a self-healing composite material capable of autonomously repairing 1 mm structural micro-cracks at standard room temperature within 24 hours, subsequently restoring >85% of its original tensile strength. |
| 3. | Demonstrate a bird-strike resistant composite UAV nose structure capable of successfully passing DO-160 certification tests at direct impact velocities of 250 knots. |
| 4. | Fabricate low-acoustic composite propellers utilizing advanced aerodynamic geometries to achieve a >5 dBA overall noise reduction and a >10% increase in fatigue life compared to standard profiles. |
| 5. | Design a cryogenic thermal management and vacuum insulation system (<80 g) for stratospheric UAV energy systems, enabling operation at -70°C ambient temperatures while conserving onboard power. (MoES Requirement) |
c) Assured Navigation and Autonomy - NavIC-enabled anti-jam GNSS receivers, swarm autonomy, reinforcement learning-based flight control, triple-redundant autopilot, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Develop a NavIC-enabled GNSS receiver with robust hardware-level anti-jam capability at a mass-production cost of <$300. |
| 2. | Create a neuromorphic chip-based SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) module consuming <5 W of total power to enable rapid, real-time spatial mapping for onboard micro-swarm drones. |
| 3. | Implement a decentralized blockchain-based flight logging system directly integrated with the national Digital Sky platform, mathematically optimized to scale securely to 100,000 daily concurrent flights. |
| 4. | Design an open-architecture triple-redundant autopilot (less than 500g weight). |
d) Resilient Communications and PNT - detect-and-avoid millimeter-wave radar, secure SDR-based command-and-control links, post-quantum crypto stacks, anti-jam waveforms, and cognitive radios, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Develop a miniaturized detect-and-avoid millimeter-wave radar (<0.8 kg, >250 m detection range against small cross-section targets) |
| 2. | Demonstrate a highly secure UAV C2 SDR link achieving a >150 km Line-of-Sight (LOS) range with 10 Mbps continuous data throughput, natively supporting AES-256 encryption with post-quantum cryptographic upgradeability. |
| 3. | Prototype a ruggedized handheld ground control unit integrating SDR, Satcom telemetry, and automated LTE network fallback protocols with a unit cost of <$2000. |
| 4. | Create a 6G-compatible, self-healing UAV mesh network architecture capable of supporting up to 100 dynamic aerial nodes with <20 ms end-to-end packet latency. |
e) Resilient Communications and PNT - lightweight UAV SAR, chip-scale LiDAR, hyperspectral imagers, MEMS chemical/olfactory sensors, bio-secure medical payload carriers, fail-safe redundant high-altitude separation systems, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Build a UAV-mounted hyperspectral imager (<2 kg) covering 400-1000 nm with 10 nm resolution. |
| 2. | Develop a LiDAR-on-chip sensor with 200 m range, <0.6 kg, and <30 W power draw. |
| 3. | Design a bio-inspired gas sensor array (e-nose) detecting ammonia, methane, and explosives at ppm levels. |
| 4. | Develop a lightweight, bio-secure medical payload carrier (2-10 kg capacity) integrating hybrid active-passive thermal management to strictly maintain a 2-8°C cold-chain environment for >120 minutes during transit. (ICMR Requirement) |
| 5. | Engineer an ultra-lightweight, dual-redundant balloon separation mechanism (<40 g) capable of fail-safe, autonomous high-altitude cut-down at 30 km AGL without mechanical binding or outgassing. (MoES Requirement) |
| 6. | Produce Low-Cost EO-IR Camera Payloads (<500 g) incorporating a highly reactive 3-axis gyro-stabilization system, featuring a 4K EO visual resolution. |
f) Safety, Certification, and UTM Systems - parachute recovery modules, UAV structural health monitoring, UTM 2.0 integration, and related domains.
Key Problem Statements
| 1. | Create a certified UAV parachute recovery system for >2 kg drones at <$2000 per unit. |
| 2. | Demonstrate onboard prognostics software that predicts motor/battery failure with 90% accuracy. |
| 3. | Develop a UTM-compliant Specialized Medical Emergency Identifier hardware module (<50 g) enabling automated Priority Access routing and forced airspace deconfliction with <1 second network communication latency. (ICMR Requirement) |
Technical Specifics of the problem statements mentioned above are placed in Annexure I
Disclaimer: The quantitative targets and performance metrics set out in the problem statements are indicative and may be subject to change or evolve over time.
4. Program Framework and Implementation Approach
A mission-mode, stage-gated framework will be adopted:
Stage 1: Pre-Proposal Submission
Interested consortia will submit short concept notes for initial evaluation. This should have an outline of the credible and compelling translation plan and identified partners in the consortium and their roles.
Stage 2: Full Proposal Submission
Applicants shortlisted from Stage 1 will be invited to submit detailed technical and financial proposals. This must include a letter of intent (LoI) from the identified industry partner(s), presenting a detailed, credible and compelling plan for translation along with the research team as part of the consortium. The letter must explicitly state the partner's role, commitment, resources (facilities, manpower, or test equipment, etc.) and interest in co-developing and/or in-cash co-funding as necessary to complement/support the translation plan.
Multiple teams may be supported at early TRLs (1-3). Progression to TRLs 5-7 will be based on milestone achievements, technical performance, and competitive down-selection. This means that through the program, several research teams may be funded in the early, exploratory phase, but only the most promising ones will continue to receive support at later stages.
Funding will be linked to:
Strategic collaboration with relevant government ministries, departments, and agencies-such as DRDO, ISRO, MoCA, the Armed Forces, MeitY, and other related bodies-may be pursued to ensure alignment with domain priorities and to enable broader impact across application areas.
Important Note:
5. Funding
Funding may be allocated to collaborative consortia of academia, R&D labs, industry and recognised & registered startups / registered MSMEs / section-8 companies / DSIR SIRO recognised organisations. While industry entities may not receive direct funding, they may leverage open-source outputs of the mission. This approach aims to ensure that advanced research is transformed into scalable, manufacturable solutions while encouraging broad participation across the ecosystem.
The maximum financial support from ANRF permissible for a single project shall be Rs. 50 Cr for 3 years.
6. Licensing Terms
The programme will mandate the use of ANRF Open License frameworks, as outlined below:
All contributors must operate under these licensing models. Detailed information on the licenses is available here (adapted from the MIT License).
7. Expected Outcomes
Note: Assessment of Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) may be carried out using the TRL framework developed under the supervision of the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.
To ensure subsystem technologies transition into deployable drone platforms, ANRF will involve a central Multi-Stage Integrator (MSI) (separate to this call) who will be responsible for -
Full proposals will be invited by ANRF, based on the evaluation of the pre-proposals. The proposals will be evaluated by a domain-specific Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), and applicants may be invited for presentations or discussions as part of the selection process.
Note:
Proposals must be submitted through www.anrfonline.in and will be evaluated under ANRF's standard procedures, aligned with the implementation strategies of this Mission. Applicants should carefully review the detailed PI guidelines on the portal to ensure full compliance with submission requirements and formats.
The opening of online submission will be updated soon.
Q1. Can an applicant submit multiple proposals
A1: No, an applicant can submit only one proposal under a given call. Also, an investigator is permitted to be linked with only one project.
Q2: Can there be multiple proposals from a host institution
A2: Yes, multiple proposals in different thematic areas can be submitted from different applicants.
Q3: Who is eligible to apply under this program?
A3: Only collaborative consortia comprising academic institutions and/or national research laboratories, along with at least one industry and/or startup/MSME partner, are eligible to apply. Proposals without industry or startup participation will not be prioritised.
Q4: Is industry participation mandatory?
A4: Yes. Industry and/or startup participation is mandatory. Each proposal must demonstrate a credible and compelling translation plan supported by committed industry or startup partners.
Q5: What constitutes a credible and compelling translation plan?
A5: A translation plan must clearly outline how research outputs will be converted into deployable and manufacturable technologies. It should define partner roles, commitments, access to resources, and pathways for commercial or strategic deployment.
Q6: What is the proposal submission process?
A6: The program follows a two-stage, mission-mode, stage-gated framework. Stage 1 involves submission of short pre-proposals (concept notes). Stage 2 involves submission of detailed technical and financial proposals by shortlisted applicants, including mandatory Letters of Intent from industry or startup partners.
Q7: Can industry or startups receive direct funding from ANRF?
A7: No. Industry entities and startups/MSMEs may participate as consortium partners but will not receive direct funding from ANRF. They may leverage open-source/open licensing frameworks/outputs of the mission to support translation and commercialisation.
Q8: How is funding linked to performance?
A8: Funding allocation and continuation are linked to TRL progression and also progression towards the technical targets for the specific components/subassemblies, achievement of technical milestones, intellectual property generation, and the strength of industry participation and commitments.
Q9: Is there a provision for a central integrator under the program?
A9: ANRF may involve a central Multi-Stage Integrator with proven capabilities in UAV development, testing, certification, and subsystem integration to support platform integration and validation.
Q10: Is there a limit on the number of PIs in a consortium?
A10: Yes. Up to 6 PIs are allowed.
Q11: How will proposals be evaluated?
A11: Proposals will be evaluated by a domain-specific Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). Applicants may be invited for presentations or technical discussions.
Q12: Will there be additional cycles of the R&D call under the MAHA Drone Program?
A12: There may be additional cycles of the R&D call under the MAHA Drone Program. Any further calls or new cycles will be announced through official notifications in due course.
Q13: Is it permissible to submit a proposal under this call if similar or related work has been submitted elsewhere or is being funded by another agency?
A13: Proposals under this call must not duplicate or substantially overlap with any project that is already funded, under review, under consideration, or previously submitted to any other Ministry, Department, or Government funding organisation, nor shall they overlap with or fall within the scope of the ongoing scheme mandates of any other government agency.
Q14: I belong to a Private Limited Company. Am I eligible to apply as an LPI/PI under the MAHA DRONE?
A14: No. Individuals affiliated with a Private Limited Company are not eligible to serve as a Lead Principal Investigator (LPI) or Principal Investigator (PI) under the MAHA Drones Program. However, they may participate in the project as an Honorary Investigator, subject to the applicable guidelines.
Q15: How do startups and industry benefit from collaborating with academia and national labs?
A15: They gain access to advanced research, national testing infrastructure, validation platforms, and open-licensed IP, enabling faster time-to-market, rapid national-scale adoption, and competitive advantage.
Q16: Why are startup and industry partners required in proposals?
A16: Startups enable rapid innovation and product development, while industry provides market access, risk reduction, and scaling capability. Their participation ensures a credible translation pathway from research to commercialisation, supporting national-scale deployment and delivering tangible national impact.