MeitY Unveils NIDAR 2.0 to Power Drones with Indigenous Chips

India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched NIDAR 2.0, a national hackathon programme to design drones and flight controllers powered by the indigenous VEGA microchip, targeting autonomous swarm coordination and GPS-denied navigation for disaster relief and industrial inspection. The initiative aligns with India's Atmanirbhar Bharat and India Semiconductor Mission goals, offering ₹65 lakh in prizes plus incubation and industry connections to commercialise solutions. If you build drone autonomy, swarm coordination, or GPS-denied navigation, India just created a funded buyer for your tech—and locked you into an indigenous chip mandate. The ₹65 lakh prize and commercialisation pathway exist; the constraint is that VEGA is now non-negotiable.