India bars makers of military drones from using Chinese parts

India in recent months has barred domestic manufacturers of military drones from using components made in China, due to concerns about security vulnerabilities, according to four defence and industry officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.

The measure has come to light amid tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours and as New Delhi pursues a military modernisation that envisages greater use of unmanned quadcopters, long-endurance systems and other autonomous platforms.

But as the nascent Indian industry looks to meet the military's needs, the defence and industry figures said India's security leaders were worried that intelligence-gathering could be compromised by Chinese-made parts in drones' communication functions, cameras, radio transmission and operating software.

Three of these people and some of the six other government and industry figures interviewed by Reuters spoke on the condition of anonymity, either becausethey were not authorised to talk to the media or because of the topic's sensitivity. 

The Defence Ministry did not respond to Reuters’ questions.

India has set aside ₹1.6 billion ($19.77 billion) for military modernisation in 2023-24, of which 75% is reserved for domestic industry.

But the ban on Chinese parts has raised the cost of making military drones locally by forcing manufacturers to source components elsewhere, government and industry experts said.

Sameer Joshi, founder of Bengaluru-based NewSpace Research and Technologies, a supplier of small drones for India's military, said 70% of goods in the supply chain were made in China.