Indian Space Company Dhruva Secures Rs 105 Crore Grant for Project Garud Amid Ambitious Satellite Production Plans

India Takes a Leap in Satellite Technology with ₹105 Crore Grant for Dhruva Space

Hyderabad-based Dhruva Space has been awarded a grant of ₹105 crore from the Centre's Research, Development and Innovation Fund (RDIF) for Project Garud, a programme aimed at developing a standardised 500 kg-class platform designed for high-volume satellite deployment. This significant investment will enable the development of an indigenous satellite platform and manufacturing ecosystem capable of supporting high-volume deployment requirements across communications, intelligence, and strategic applications.

The satellite platform is a critical component of a satellite, providing essential services to the payload and enabling mission objectives such as power and communication. Existing systems are typically custom-built, resulting in extended development cycles and limited reusability. In contrast, the satellite platform developed under Project Garud will have a flat-pack architecture that enables efficient launch stacking, faster system integration, and improved deployment timelines, making it suitable for large-scale satellite deployments.

By establishing a made-in-India architecture, Project Garud will reduce reliance on foreign satellite platforms and subsystems while strengthening supply chain resilience for communications and intelligence infrastructure. Furthermore, Dhruva Space will establish the infrastructure, tooling, and industrial processes required for high-volume satellite manufacturing at scale. The roadmap is designed around a production cadence capable of supporting up to two satellites per day, enabling an annualised manufacturing potential of approximately 500-600 satellites across multiple mission configurations.

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This significant investment is expected to have a profound impact on India's satellite technology landscape, enabling the country to reduce its reliance on foreign satellite platforms and subsystems while strengthening supply chain resilience for communications and intelligence infrastructure.