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Himachal Pradesh : From a modest family and a government school classroom to a ₹3.5-crore defence innovation project this young engineering student’s journey is turning heads.
Sarvesh Sharma, a fifth-semester Computer Engineering diploma student at Government Polytechnic Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, has received a ₹3.5 crore grant from the Ministry of Defence to develop an indigenous drone intended for surveillance in high-altitude and border areas. Sarvesh, whose father Sanjeev works as a daily-wage labourer and whose mother is a homemaker, completed his schooling at Government Senior Secondary School Bahanwi before joining the government polytechnic.
Under the Defence Innovation Organisation (DIO) and Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) initiative, Sarvesh is set to develop the indigenous ‘Rudra Edge T-1 (Spectra)’ drone, which is being designed with challenging high-altitude surveillance requirements in mind.
According to the project description, the proposed system is intended to be difficult for hostile radar systems to detect and is being developed with capabilities to operate in environments affected by electronic interference, although its final capabilities will only be established after the prototype is completed and tested.
Sarvesh’s journey into defence innovation began with a national-level drone competition organised by IIT Jodhpur and Konark Corps, where around 50 teams from institutions across the country participated in an open cardboard-drone challenge; his team secured fourth position and received ₹10 lakh in prize money, while working on surveillance-related challenges faced by security forces deployed in high-altitude areas.
Determined to take the idea further, Sarvesh reportedly invested around ₹87,000 from his own resources to develop the initial project and prepare the proposal before submitting his startup concept through the Defence Ministry’s innovation framework. His proposal was subsequently approved, bringing his prototype into the formal defence innovation ecosystem. Following the grant approval, Himachal Pradesh Governor Kavinder Gupta felicitated Sarvesh and congratulated him for the achievement, describing such innovation as contributing to indigenous technological capabilities in the defence sector.
The project has also been linked with an incubation centre at IIT Roorkee, where Sarvesh is expected to receive access to laboratory facilities, technical guidance and expert mentorship as the drone moves through its development stages. The project has reportedly been given a 20-month timeline, turning the ambitious idea of a government-polytechnic student from a financially modest background into a structured defence technology development programme.
