We may have to wait until later this year for India to take the mantle of world’s most populous country. But India has already passed China as the world’s most dynamic developing economy.
© Handout
It goes beyond China’s limping GDP—3 per cent growth last year, compared to India’s 8.7 per cent growth.
Load Error
It extends further than the historical trends that mark this transition — with rarely more than one major economy undergoing rapid industrialization, from England to the US to Japan and then China, passing on to India today.
And, while China’s geopolitics has caused businesses to look for alternate markets faster than would otherwise be the case — that’s a change in timing, not trajectory.
The clearest sign that India is now the best developing country to do business in… is the companies that are coming here to do business.
The latest example is Draganfly — one of the most advanced civilian drone manufacturers in the world.
You see, the best way to tell that a developing economy is taking off is when it starts getting cutting edge technologies — and implementing them widely. And more quickly than established economies.
Essentially it comes down to this… it is easier to install new infrastructure with the latest technologies, as opposed to upgrading existing infrastructure.
It happened when America electrified its cities at the turn of the last century — and later built thoroughfares with cars in mind, instead of ox carts).
It happened when China connected its cities with Maglev trains.
And it’s happening in India today, in ways large and small — including, crucially, with Draganfly’s drone technology.
You might be thinking that drones aren’t infrastructure technology. On the high end, they make up useful military battleground tech. And on the low-end, they make for fun toys.
But that’s because you haven’t seen the drone technology that Draganfly has perfected recently.
Today, Draganfly drones…
- Are in use by city emergency departments. Drones can get to the scene faster, while bringing in emergency medical equipment. In the event of a false alarm — which makes up approximately 20% of all emergency calls — Draganfly drones can save first responders precious time by finding out which calls truly need help before help arrives.
- Assist fire and emergency services in American forests. Draganfly drones can explore more land for signs of fires… can spot potential hot spots faster than visual inspections. Thanks to thermal imaging, they can deliver medical equipment to individuals that are trapped by fires, making them inaccessible… and can deliver firefighting equipment to the front lines. In rough terrain and conditions, drones can deliver needed equipment in 15 minutes, when it would take over three hours to arrive by conventional means.
- Are helping in the battlefield in Ukraine. Medical drones are an obvious benefit — they can bring anything from small first aid supplies, to blood and plasma in temperature-controlled compartments to hot zones. The drones also can help with any search-and-rescue missions — especially in unstable areas that have recently suffered damage, or are inaccessible due to the shape of the surrounding battle.
- They are helping off the battlefield as well. Using advanced sensors like radar, lidar, infrared and thermal imaging, Draganfly drones can scan fields for mines and unexploded ordnance. They can do it quickly — scanning 100 acres in a single flight — and safely, without anyone having to risk life or limb.
- Draganfly drones can even use these same sensors to assist farmers — telling them which crops need water, which don’t, which show pest damage and which are growing easily without the need for insecticides or the like.
All of these capabilities are at the cutting edge of drone tech.
However, it isn’t really the sensors, the climate-controlled compartments, the ability to lift heavy loads, or the ability to operate beyond line-of-sight that separates Draganfly drones from other types.
The true reason that Draganfly drones are best-in-class is the software and AI that Draganfly has developed, which allow these drones to take sensor inputs and quickly figure out what is a military mine… which crops are sustaining damage… which heat signature in a collapsed building is human… along with hundreds of other tricks that make these drones true game changers.
The truth is, these drones are the future of cities — and farms — everywhere.
But, to date, they have only been utilized in small test projects, proving out their abilities.
In another ten years, they’ll be widespread.
But that expansion is just beginning. And one of the places it will start is India.
As of January 31, Draganfly has entered into a partnership with India’s Remote Sensing Instruments to work together to create even better software… an even faster rollout of these high-tech drones… and to manufacture Draganfly drones right here in India.
Exactly the sort of deal you would expect a cutting-edge tech company to make, as it enters a rapidly growing, dynamic economy.
This allows Draganfly early access to what will soon be the world’s most populous country. Their CEO estimates this could easily translate to 100x growth.
Meanwhile, India gets its foot in the door in one of the most important tech sectors of the next decade… while creating manufacturing jobs and skills… and getting in position to create state-of-the-art infrastructure throughout the nation’s cities and farmlands.
Draganfly’s arrival in India is a huge deal on a practical level.
And it is one more important data point showing that India is the most dynamic growth economy in the world today.