Coromandel to invest ₹150 crore in Daksha, to up stake by 7%

Coromandel International Limited, an agricultural inputs provider, has announced that it would invest ₹150 crore in the Chennai-based Dhaksha Unmanned Systems Private Limited to increase its stake by 7 per cent.

Post investment, Coromandel’s stake in the drone firm would go up to 58 per cent.

“The proceeds from this fund-raise will help Dhaksha in strengthening its research and development efforts, cater to servicing large orders and meeting its working capital needs,” Arun Alagappan, Executive Chairman, Coromandel International Ltd, said in a statement on Monday.

The five-year-old drone startup provides a complete range of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) technology solutions across agriculture, defence, surveillance and enterprise applications. It also offers remote pilot training services (RPTO).

Dhaksha, which has an order book worth ₹265 crore, recently recently expanded its production capacity by opening a facility near Chennai. 

“We have been associated with Dhaksha for long. We have been helping them in talent acquisition, R&D, and production scale-up,” he said.

A Murugappa group company, Coromandel registered a turnover of ₹22,290 crore in 2023-24.