MeitY and Drone Federation India Launch NIDAR 2.0

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), along with Drone Federation India (DFI), launched the second edition of the National Innovation Challenge for Drone Application and Research (NIDAR 2.0, 2026-27) under the SwaYaan initiative on 13 July 2026. The event took place at Electronics Niketan, New Delhi, in hybrid mode. Shri S. Krishnan, Secretary, MeitY, unveiled the problem statements, poster, and rulebook. Shri Amitesh Kumar Sinha, Additional Secretary, MeitY, and CEO, India Semiconductor Mission, delivered a special address, while Smt. Tulika Pandey (MeitY) and Shri Smit Shah, President, DFI, also spoke. Officials from civil aviation, defence, Home Affairs, DGCA, and the armed forces attended.

What is NIDAR 2.0?  

NIDAR 2.0 is a major Indian student drone competition. It tasks students with building autonomous drones powered by India's indigenous VEGA processor. The first edition (launched March 2025) saw 3,448 students from 22 states and 4 UTs build drone solutions for disaster management and agriculture, with 24 teams winning Rs 40 lakh in prizes. 

How Does It Differ from NIDAR 2025-26?

NIDAR 2.0 shifts focus to autonomous systems and indigenous avionics across two tracks: Track 1 (Drone Innovation) covers swarm drones for disaster response and GPS-denied indoor navigation; Track 2 (Component Innovation) tasks teams with building a flight controller around India's indigenous VEGA processor, developed by C-DAC under the RISC-V-based DIR-V programe. The prize pool has grown to over Rs 65 lakh, with internships and incubation support for winners.

What is the SwaYaan Initiative?

SwaYaan, short for Capacity Building for Human Resource Development in Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Drone and Allied Technologies), was approved by MeitY in July 2022 with an outlay of about Rs 89.87 crore over five years. It builds a skilled workforce for India's drone sector through a Hub-and-Spoke model spanning 30 premier institutions, including IISc, IITs, IIITs, NITs, C-DAC and NIELIT. It covers five themes: Aeromechanics, Drone Electronics, GNC Algorithms and Simulation, Drone Applications, and Allied UAS Technologies. Over 51,000 people have been trained so far, alongside support for M.Tech and minor degree programs, online courses, research papers, and patents. NIDAR is SwaYaan's flagship innovation platform.