Skill Development
Skilling For Security
Sneha T S & Kiran Panchal
As drones take to the skies over India's power stations and borders, the Adani Skill Development Centre has moved from shaping civilian careers to sharpening the country's frontline defences.
The Adani Skill Development Centre (ASDC) has trained personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in drone technology, marking its first structured foray from civilian livelihood programmes into institutional security training. Conducted through ASDC's drone-skilling vertical, the initiative gave CISF personnel hands-on training in unmanned aerial systems, a field increasingly central to the surveillance and protection of critical infrastructure.
Ground Up Readiness
The CISF initiative represents a natural extension of ASDC's partnership with IIT Mandi iHub, channelling its civilian drone expertise towards a specialised, mission-critical audience. Where the organisation's work has traditionally centred on individual economic upliftment, this programme signals a shift towards building institutional capability, positioning ASDC at the intersection of skilling and national security.
The stakes are considerable. Warfare itself is being redrawn by the drone: low-cost unmanned systems have turned aerial surveillance and strike capability, once the preserve of air forces, into tools that a handful of trained personnel can deploy on the ground. As drone technology becomes integral to surveillance and monitoring across sectors, ASDC's training is helping CISF personnel build a new layer of operational readiness within a force tasked with safeguarding critical infrastructure.
Stories of Service and Skill
CISF personnel share how hands-on training is expanding their skills, strengthening their capabilities and preparing them for the challenges ahead.
The training was well aligned with current needs and requirements, offering the officers valuable exposure and practical experience in drone handling.
We completed our Remote Pilot Certificate Course (RPC) from ASDC and gained valuable practical knowledge of drone operations. The programme also gave participants a clearer grasp of Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) guidelines.”
Sub-Inspector Pawan Kumar
CISF
As a CISF Constable (GD), I believe drones are becoming an essential part of modern security. The course at ASDC was informative and highly relevant. I would encourage fellow security personnel to explore this course. The trainers and staff were extremely cooperative and supportive throughout the training.”
Constable (GD) Arnab Ali Molla CISF
The training was a perfect combination of theoretical and practical learning, with two days of online classes followed by four days of practical training. As CISF personnel, I believe this training will be extremely useful in the coming years for protecting our territories and enhancing our security capabilities.”
Senior Constable Anvar Mohammad
CISF
Drone technology enables efficient patrolling and can accomplish the work of a team of 10 personnel in certain situations. Interconnected drones, with one drone linked to another at intervals, can further enhance surveillance and coverage. We learnt a great deal from the ASDC training programme, which has given us valuable insights into the future of security operations.”
Constable (GD) Aswanth
CISF
New Skills
If the CISF partnership showcases where ASDC's drone-skilling can go, IIT Mandi iHub is where much of it began. The institute's Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) anchors the collaboration on the technology and academic side, with its Drone Laboratory supplying the curriculum, professional flight simulations and hands-on exposure to advanced crop-monitoring and pesticide-spraying applications that now inform ASDC's training design. ASDC, in turn, has served as the execution and skilling arm, drawing on infrastructure such as its centre in Gagal, Himachal Pradesh, to deliver structured, industry-ready training that produces DGCA-certified remote pilots.
That foundation was laid chiefly in India's fields rather than its fence lines. Through initiatives such as the “Drone Didi” framework, the partnership has worked to empower rural youth and women, pairing ground-level operational training with entrepreneurship mentorship and market linkages to help participants build sustainable businesses in the country's fast-growing agri-tech sector. It is this rigour, brought in by IIT Mandi, that has since given ASDC the grounding to extend its drone-skilling into the more specialised, security-focused training now being delivered to forces like the CISF.
Wings Over Chamba
The CISF partnership sits atop a skilling footprint that has grown steadily since ASDC's inception. The organisation now operates across 15 states, running 38 courses spanning more than 30 sectors through a network of multi-skill hubs, specialised centres and technology-focused flagships. Collectively, these centres have trained over 200,000 learners, with an annual training capacity exceeding 20,000.
Beyond placement, 2,422 trainees have gone on to start their own entrepreneurial ventures, converting vocational training into self-employment and enterprise creation. ASDC's interventions have also generated a Social Return on Investment (SROI) of 12.08. (SROI is a widely used measure of social impact that expresses the broader value created for every rupee invested).
A collaboration with Bosch has strengthened automotive technician and service-advisor training pathways, while government skilling programmes across states and priority groups round out an ecosystem built on institutional trust as much as technical capability. The 2025-26 period has also seen ASDC expand its head-office infrastructure in Ahmedabad and collect six honours at the Business Innovation Awards in Bengaluru, spanning skill development, rural livelihoods, CSR and vocational education.
For ASDC, collaboration is a marker of intent. Its skilling ambitions are not confined to conventional trades or civilian employment. As industries and institutions evolve, ASDC's role is evolving alongside them, elevating not only individual livelihoods but the collective preparedness of the systems that keep the nation secure. What began as a mission to equip individuals for the workforce has, with this partnership, extended its reach to equipping the very forces that stand guard over the nation's infrastructure, a quiet but telling sign of an organisation whose ambitions now span skilling across industries.