The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), in partnership with the Drone Federation India (DFI), launched the second edition of the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0) on 13 July 2026 at Electronics Niketan in New Delhi. The challenge shifts focus from conventional drone applications to building autonomous systems powered by India’s homegrown VEGA processor, calling on students to design the core intelligence of drones rather than simply fly them. With a prize pool of over ₹65 lakh and incubation support, NIDAR 2.0 represents a strategic push towards self-reliance in drone electronics and semiconductor integration under the government’s SwaYaan initiative.
What Is NIDAR 2.0?
NIDAR is India’s largest national drone innovation challenge, designed as a premier hackathon for engineering students and researchers to design, prototype, and build advanced autonomous drone software and hardware. The programme is jointly organised by MeitY and the Drone Federation India (DFI) under the SwaYaan initiative.
The first edition, launched in March 2025, saw strong participation from across the country. It attracted 3,448 students from 22 states, four Union Territories, and 109 cities, who developed autonomous drone solutions for disaster management and precision agriculture. A total of 93 teams reached the grand finale, with 24 teams sharing prize money of ₹40 lakh.
Building on this momentum, NIDAR 2.0 marks a significant evolution. In the words of MeitY Secretary S. Krishnan, who launched the problem statements, poster, and rulebook at the event, the new edition “takes our students from just flying drones to building the drone’s brain.” The competition moves away from using pre-built airframes and instead focuses on indigenous avionics, autonomous systems, secure drone operating intelligence, and microchip integration using India’s own VEGA processor.
The prize pool has been more than doubled to over ₹65 lakh, up from ₹40 lakh in the first edition. Winning teams will also receive startup incubation support, corporate internships, cloud computing credits, and software assistance to help commercialise their innovations. After initial technical evaluation, the top 100 teams will each receive two VEGA processor development kits free of cost for testing, programming, and integration.
Two Tracks, One Goal
NIDAR 2.0 is structured around two dedicated competition tracks, each targeting a different layer of drone technology.
Drone Innovation Track
This system-level track challenges students to solve complex operational problems through autonomous systems. Teams must build fully autonomous swarm drones capable of locating survivors and delivering medical supplies in disaster-hit areas without relying on any external communication or cellular network. They are also tasked with developing drones that can navigate GPS-denied indoor environments for complex industrial inspections, such as inside factories, warehouses, or confined infrastructure.
Component Innovation Track
This hardware-level track requires teams to design an indigenous flight controller and autopilot system built around the VEGA processor using domestically developed electronic components. The focus is on creating the electronic brain of the drone using Indian semiconductor technology rather than importing critical components from abroad. The top 100 teams selected after technical evaluation will each receive two VEGA processor development kits to support prototyping, testing, and integration.
MeitY noted that civilian and defence drones share much of the same core technology, and innovations emerging from NIDAR 2.0 could strengthen both sectors while advancing the government’s vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat @2047.
The VEGA Processor: India’s Indigenous Chip at the Heart of the Challenge
The defining feature of NIDAR 2.0 is the integration of India’s indigenous VEGA processor family into the challenge. The VEGA series of microprocessors has been designed and developed by the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) under MeitY’s Microprocessor Development Programme.
The VEGA family includes a range of 32-bit and 64-bit single-core, dual-core, and quad-core processors based on the open-standard RISC-V architecture. RISC-V is an open-source instruction set architecture (ISA) that allows anyone to design chips without paying licensing fees, making it a strategic choice for countries seeking technological independence. The VEGA processors are capable of running operating systems such as Linux and FreeRTOS and support a wide range of applications from IoT to high-performance computing.
The processors were developed under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, a MeitY-driven initiative launched to reduce India’s dependence on foreign chip designs and their associated licensing costs. C-DAC, headquartered in Pune with its VLSI and embedded systems design centre in Thiruvananthapuram, has successfully taped out multiple VEGA-based system-on-chip (SoC) designs, including THEJAS64, India’s first fully indigenous 64-bit VEGA-based SoC.
By making the VEGA processor the core of the Component Innovation track, NIDAR 2.0 directly connects India’s semiconductor ambitions with its drone ecosystem. Students will work with real Indian-made processor hardware, gaining hands-on experience that bridges the gap between chip design and drone manufacturing.
SwaYaan: Building India’s Drone Workforce
NIDAR 2.0 operates as the flagship national innovation platform under MeitY’s broader SwaYaan initiative. Formally approved by MeitY in July 2022, SwaYaan is a comprehensive, multi-year capacity-building programme with a total financial outlay of ₹89.87 crore over a five-year period (2022-2027).
The initiative aims to create a highly skilled workforce in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and allied drone technologies. It follows a hub-and-spoke model involving 30 premier institutions across India, 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 centres.
These institutions work across five technical work themes: Drone Electronics; Guidance, Navigation and Control (GNC) Algorithms and Simulation; Aeromechanics; Drone Applications; and Allied UAS Technologies.
Under the programme, over 51,000 people have already been trained. Notable achievements include the launch of an M.Tech in UAS Engineering at IIT Kanpur, the introduction of multiple minor degree programmes in drone technology, and the successful conduct of numerous bootcamps and workshops across the country. The initiative also engages industry partners through innovation challenges and industry meets, reinforcing the link between academic training and real-world application.
Strengthening India’s Drone Ecosystem
NIDAR 2.0 arrives at a time when India’s drone sector is expanding rapidly. The government has set a target of making India a global drone hub by 2030, supported by a series of policy measures. The liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 simplified compliance by reducing forms from 25 to 5 and fees from 72 to 4, while freeing up nearly 90 per cent of Indian airspace as a green zone for drone operations up to 400 feet. The Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for drones and drone components offers a 20 per cent incentive on value addition, and the GST on drones was reduced to a uniform 5 per cent in September 2025.
India’s drone market was valued at approximately $2.9 billion in 2024, making it the fifth largest globally, and is projected to reach $7.5 billion by 2029. Over 500 startups are active in the sector, and as of early 2026, more than 38,500 drones were registered and over 39,800 remote pilots certified.
The Drone Federation India (DFI), which partners with MeitY on NIDAR, is a non-profit industry body established in 2017 and headquartered in New Delhi. It represents over 1,000 members across the drone and counter-drone ecosystem, including manufacturers, service providers, technology developers, and training organisations. DFI works closely with the government on policy advocacy, standards development, and ecosystem building.
By challenging students to build the electronic brains of drones using India’s own VEGA processor, NIDAR 2.0 addresses a critical gap in the ecosystem. Most Indian drones currently rely on imported flight controllers and processors. This initiative aims to shift the industry from assembly-level work to genuine design and innovation, building a talent pipeline that can supply India’s growing drone manufacturing sector with engineers who understand both hardware and software at the chip level.
Key Takeaways
- The National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0) was launched by MeitY and Drone Federation India (DFI) on 13 July 2026 under the SwaYaan initiative.
- The challenge offers a prize pool of over ₹65 lakh, with winning teams receiving startup incubation, corporate internships, and cloud computing credits.
- NIDAR 2.0 has two tracks: the Drone Innovation track (autonomous swarm drones for disaster response and GPS-denied navigation) and the Component Innovation track (indigenous flight controllers built around the VEGA processor).
- The VEGA processor family is designed by C-DAC under MeitY’s Microprocessor Development Programme and the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) programme, based on the open-standard RISC-V architecture.
- The first edition of NIDAR (March 2025) attracted 3,448 students from 22 states, four Union Territories, and 109 cities, with 24 teams winning ₹40 lakh in prizes.
- The SwaYaan initiative was approved by MeitY in July 2022 with a financial outlay of ₹89.87 crore over five years, training over 51,000 people through a network of 30 premier institutions.
