Indian Startup Builds Jet Engines That Power First Homegrown Drone

For decades, Indian drone makers had no choice but to buy jet engines from abroad, waiting on export licenses and paying whatever suppliers demanded.

That changed on August 11, 2026, when a homegrown loitering drone called Divyastra Mk3 took its first flight powered entirely by an Indian-built turbojet. Both the drone and its engine came from Indian startups.

DG Propulsion built that engine. Founded in 2019 by Prateek Dhawan and former Navy officer Chirag Gupta, the Delhi company tackled one of engineering's toughest challenges: building jet engines small enough for drones but powerful enough for military missions.

Jet engines resist shortcuts. The basic design is public knowledge, but the metallurgy, precision tolerances, and manufacturing expertise take decades to develop. Most countries never crack it.

Dhawan started experimenting with micro gas turbines as a college project and tested his first aero engine in 2018 while working at John Deere. When he met Gupta the following year, they decided India could build its own.

The company now makes three engines. The J20, J40, and J60 produce 20, 40, and 60 kilograms of thrust respectively. All were designed, built, and tested in-house for unmanned aircraft and defense applications.

The real breakthrough came with endurance testing. The J40 ran continuously for one hour, the benchmark that separates working prototypes from mission-ready hardware. By late 2024, they tested an even larger 100-kilogram thrust engine.

The supply chain remains the hardest part. Right now, only 30 to 35 percent of the J40's components come from Indian suppliers. The company aims to push that past 90 percent with support from a Ministry of Defence grant.

The Ripple Effect

DG Propulsion's success opens doors for India's entire drone industry. Companies no longer need to navigate foreign export controls or reveal their exact requirements to overseas suppliers who might also serve competitors.

The startup now plans to build a 10-kilonewton engine, ten times more powerful than anything they've tested. They're also developing turbofan engines, which work better for larger aircraft and air taxis.

The August flight proved their engines work beyond the test stand. When another company trusts your engine enough to fly their aircraft, you've crossed from laboratory curiosity to real aerospace supplier.

India now joins the small club of countries building their own jet engines, one startup at a time.