MoD’s in-principle approval for ₹500 cr National Military Drone Technology Hub at IIT Kanpur

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has granted in-principle approval for a ₹500 crore National Military DroneTechnology Hub at IIT Kanpur, offering a full stack capability from design, test and certify military payloads, data links, ground stations and counter-drone systems.

The Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) -- the primary nodal agency for Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UP DIC) -- drafted a proposal which was subsequently submitted by the UP government to the MoD on May 29, 2026, requesting early sanction and nomination of a National Military Drone Technology Hub at IIT Kanpur Centre of Excellence (CoE). This was done on the directions of UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who reviewed the progress on April 10, this year, to give a boost to the IIT Kanpur earlier designated as a CoE with a total outlay of ₹20.3 crore, of which ₹15.3 crore was funded by the State, as per state government officials.

“This Hub makes UPDIC a global benchmark in unmanned systems and gives our forces a decisive tech edge. UP will now lead India’s military drone innovation,” said a senior state government officer. The CoE is already operational as an integrated hub for R&D, testing, training and startup incubation in drone technologies.

It will drive civil–military fusion model, scaling up dual-use drone technologies developed under Drone Shakti for defence applications. Also, utilise nodes of the Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (Aligarh, Agra, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Chitrakoot) for distributed manufacturing and MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul), with IIT Kanpur CoE leading R&D and standardisation.

The Army Design Bureau (ADB) has been designated as the single point of contact for coordination. A Monitoring Committee has been constituted under Additional Secretary & DG (Acquisition), Department of Defence, and the first review meeting was held on June 3 where IIT Kanpur was requested to submit a revised proposal by the end of this month adopting a whole-of-nation approach, said officials.

The move is aimed at establishing Uttar Pradesh as a national hub for defence drone technologies and strengthen the UP Defence Industrial Corridor ecosystem through enhancement of advanced manufacturing, R&D, startup ecosystem and high-skilled employment, the officials stated.

For close coordination with MoD, Army Design Bureau and IIT Kanpur, the UP government -- as suggested by MoD -- is going to nominate a nodal officer for streamlined inter-departmental coordination.

Officials stated that the Hub will accelerate indigenisation under Make-1 and Make-2 categories and cut-down import dependence in critical drone sub-systems.

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