The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in partnership with the Drone Federation India (DFI), has launched the second edition of the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0) for 2026–27. The competition is part of the SwaYaan initiative, which aims to strengthen India’s drone technology ecosystem by encouraging students to develop advanced drone systems using indigenous technologies.
The programme was launched at Electronics Niketan in New Delhi in a hybrid format, bringing together students, faculty members, government officials, and industry representatives from across the country. During the event, MeitY released the official problem statements, competition poster, and rulebook for the new edition.
Unlike the first edition, which focused mainly on drone applications, NIDAR 2.0 shifts attention to building the core technologies that power drones, including autonomous systems, flight controllers, and Indian-designed processors. The challenge also offers financial rewards and technical support to help student teams convert their ideas into practical products.
Key Highlights
- MeitY and Drone Federation India launched NIDAR 2.0 under the SwaYaan initiative for the 2026–27 academic year.
- Student teams will develop autonomous drones and indigenous drone components powered by the VEGA processor.
- The competition offers a prize pool of more than ₹65 lakh, along with startup incubation, cloud credits, software support, and internship opportunities.
- The top 100 Component Innovation teams will receive two VEGA processor kits each for product development and testing.
- The first edition attracted 3,448 students from 22 states, 4 Union Territories, and 109 cities, with 24 winning teams sharing ₹40 lakh in prizes.
- The SwaYaan programme has trained more than 51,000 people in drone and unmanned aircraft technologies since its launch.
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NIDAR 2.0 Focuses on Indigenous Drone Technologies
NIDAR 2.0 has been designed to encourage students to build more advanced drone technologies using Indian-developed hardware. The competition moves beyond designing drone airframes and instead focuses on autonomous navigation, onboard intelligence, and core electronic systems.
Speaking at the launch, MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan said the programme takes students beyond operating drones and encourages them to develop the “brain” of the drone using India’s own VEGA processor. According to him, building drone control systems on Indian-designed chips is an important step towards reducing dependence on foreign semiconductor technologies.
The VEGA processor has been developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under MeitY’s Microprocessor Development Programme. It is based on the open-standard RISC-V architecture, which allows greater flexibility and reduces licensing dependence on proprietary chip designs.
Two Competition Tracks for Students
NIDAR 2.0 includes two separate competition tracks aimed at different aspects of drone development.
The Drone Innovation track asks student teams to develop fully autonomous swarm drones capable of locating disaster survivors and delivering medical supplies without relying on external communication networks. Teams must also design drones that can operate in GPS-denied indoor environments for industrial inspection applications.
The Component Innovation track focuses on designing an indigenous flight controller and autopilot system using the VEGA processor and locally developed electronic components. Following the technical evaluation, the top 100 teams in this category will receive two VEGA processor development kits each to support testing and integration.
By combining software, electronics, and autonomous navigation, the competition aims to expose students to the complete drone development ecosystem rather than only drone assembly.
Prize Pool Increased with Industry Support
To reflect the broader scope of the competition, the total prize pool has increased to more than ₹65 lakh, up from ₹40 lakh in the previous edition.
In addition to cash prizes, winning teams will receive startup incubation support, cloud computing credits, software assistance, and internship opportunities with industry partners. These incentives are intended to help promising prototypes move beyond academic projects and towards commercial development.
The ministry noted that many technologies used in civilian drones are also relevant for defence applications. As a result, innovations developed through NIDAR could contribute to both commercial and strategic sectors while supporting the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat @2047 objectives.
SwaYaan Initiative Expands India’s Drone Talent Pipeline
NIDAR operates under the SwaYaan (Capacity Building for Human Resource Development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems) initiative, which was approved by MeitY in July 2022 with a budget of approximately ₹89.87 crore over five years.
The programme follows a Hub-and-Spoke model involving 30 premier institutions, including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Information Technology (IIITs), National Institutes of Technology (NITs), C-DAC, and NIELIT.
SwaYaan covers five major areas of drone education and research: aeromechanics, drone electronics, guidance, navigation and control (GNC) algorithms and simulation, drone applications, and allied unmanned aircraft technologies.
According to MeitY, the initiative has trained more than 51,000 participants and has supported M.Tech programmes, minor degree courses, curriculum development, online learning, research publications, and patents related to drone technology. NIDAR serves as the programme’s flagship innovation challenge, providing students with an opportunity to apply these skills to real-world engineering problems.
Source: Ministry of Electronics & IT
