MeitY launches NIDAR 2.0 to develop drones powered by Indian-made chips
New Delhi, July 13
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in collaboration with the Drone Federation India, on Monday launched the second edition of the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research, challenging students to build autonomous drones and indigenous flight controllers powered by India's homegrown VEGA processor.
According to a MeitY release, NIDAR 2.0 offers a prize pool of more than Rs 65 lakh, along with startup incubation, cloud computing credits, software support and corporate internships for participating student teams.
Launching the challenge, MeitY Secretary S Krishnan said, "NIDAR 2.0 takes our students from just flying drones to building the drone's brain. When the drone's brain runs on India's own VEGA processor, we are not just training engineers. We are laying the foundation of a self-reliant drone industry."
He added that "VEGA is developed under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, a MeitY-driven initiative to reduce the country's dependence on foreign chip designs and their licensing costs."
According to the ministry, the latest edition shifts the focus from conventional drone platforms to autonomous systems, indigenous avionics and core drone components.
Under the Drone Innovation track, student teams will build autonomous swarm drones capable of locating survivors and delivering medical supplies in disaster-hit areas without external communication networks, besides developing GPS-denied drones for indoor industrial inspections.
The Component Innovation track requires teams to design an indigenous flight controller and autopilot built around the VEGA processor using indigenous electronic components. MeitY said the top 100 teams selected after technical evaluation will each receive two VEGA processor kits for development, testing and integration.
The ministry said the VEGA processor family has been designed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under MeitY's Microprocessor Development Programme and is based on the open-standard RISC-V architecture.
According to the release, winning teams will also receive incubation support, corporate internships and cloud credits to help commercialise their innovations. "Civilian and defence drones share much of the same core technology. The ideas emerging from NIDAR can therefore strengthen both civilian and defence applications, in line with the goals of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat @2047," the ministry said.
The first edition of NIDAR, launched in March 2025, attracted 3,448 students from 22 states, four Union Territories and 109 cities. Of the 93 teams that reached the grand finale, 24 teams won prizes worth a total of Rs 40 lakh, according to the MeitY release.
— ANI
Reader Comments
Great to see the government pushing for RISC-V architecture. This is a real alternative to ARM and x86 that foreign companies control. The VEGA processor from C-DAC has been in development for years – finally seeing practical applications in drones. My worry though: will these designs actually make it to mass production? We need fabs and foundries in India too, not just design. But still, a very positive step forward. Keep it up, MeitY!
Fascinating how India is leapfrogging in drone tech. The focus on autonomous swarms and indigenous flight controllers is impressive. I love the practical application for disaster management – locating survivors without external comms is a game-changer. Hope this also creates jobs for young engineers. The first edition had over 3,000 participants, so the interest is definitely there. Just hope the government follows through on the commercialization support – that's where many such challenges fall short.
Finally! A challenge that goes beyond just flying drones and actually builds the 'brain' of the drone. The VEGA processor being homegrown is a huge deal – reduces our dependence on imported chips. Love the dual-use angle for civilian and defence applications. But I hope the selection process is transparent and doesn't just favour the IITs and NITs. Students from tier-2 and tier-3 colleges should also get a fair shot. Overall, a commendable initiative, MeitY! 👏
As someone in the tech industry, this is genuinely exciting. RISC-V is the future and India positioning itself as a leader in that space is smart. The VEGA processor kits for the top 100 teams are a nice incentive. But I have one critical observation: the real test will be whether these student projects can scale to commercial products. Many innovation challenges get stuck at the prototype stage. Hope MeitY and DFI provide enough mentorship on manufacturing
We welcome thoughtful discussions from our readers. Please keep comments respectful and on-topic.