MeitY and Drone Federation India launch NIDAR drone challenge under SwaYaan with ₹40 lakh prize pool
The Ministry of Electronics and IT and Drone Federation India launched the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR) under the SwaYaan initiative on 18 March 2025, with a ₹40 lakh prize pool.
Summary
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), with Drone Federation India (DFI), launched the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR) on 18 March 2025 under 'SwaYaan â Capacity Building for Human Resource Development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems'. MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan launched the website and rulebook at Electronics Niketan. Student and research teams will build collaborative autonomous drones for two domains: disaster management (scout and deliver drones to find and help survivors) and precision agriculture (scan and spray drones). The challenge has a ₹40 lakh prize pool along with startup incubation, cloud credits, software support and internships. AICTE Chairman T. G. Sitharam urged taking it to engineering colleges.
Key facts
- Date
- 18 March 2025
- By
- MeitY with Drone Federation India
- Under
- SwaYaan initiative
- Domains
- Disaster management; precision agriculture
- Prize pool
- ₹40 lakh
- Launched by
- MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan
Practice MCQs 2 questions
Under which MeitY initiative was the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR) launched on 18 March 2025?
Show answer
Correct answer: D â SwaYaan
NIDAR was launched under 'SwaYaan â Capacity Building for Human Resource Development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems'.
Which two domains are the autonomous drones in the NIDAR challenge (March 2025) meant to address?
Show answer
Correct answer: A â Disaster management and precision agriculture
NIDAR teams build collaborative autonomous drones for disaster management (scout and deliver) and precision agriculture (scan and spray).