Hyderabad: Women-led deeptech and defence startup from Hyderabad, AkinAnalytics, has developed an indigenous multi-payload drone aimed at farmers and field-intensive sectors.Developed for operational flexibility, NIKA2 kisan medium drone carries a 16-litre spraying payload and a 12-litre spreading payload, with a quick-change mechanism that lets operators switch between applications for different farm tasks. The drone includes terrain-following technology, fail-safe functions and night-operation capability.The drone was unveiled in New Delhi by Union agriculture and farmers’ welfare and rural development minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who also viewed a demonstration of its capabilities.AkinAnalytics said the drone can operate even on uneven and sloping farmland, including plantation regions such as tea-growing areas in Shillong and Meghalaya, where conventional aerial operations can be difficult.The company said the drone can also support aquaculture feed distribution, expanding its use beyond crop spraying and spreading.AkinAnalytics founder and CEO Janaki Pulaparthi, a computer science engineer and ISB alumna, said the company is focused on solving practical problems with technology designed and developed in India.“With NIKA2, we want to make drone technology more versatile and useful for farmers while building capabilities that can eventually serve multiple industries and geographies,” she said.AkinAnalytics is also developing an AI-augmented drone analytics platform and digital twin technologies for inspection, measurement, monitoring and decision-making in agriculture, aquaculture, mining, energy, infrastructure and defence.It operates a DGCA-authorised remote pilot training organisation in Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh. Backed by NIDHI PRAYAS, Startup India Seed Fund, MeitY SAMRIDH and iDEX, it is targeting global markets.
