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"MUMBAI: Sterlite Power Transmission has acquired a minority stake in US-based drone service company Sharper Shape to bring its automated inspection and maintenance planning services for infrastructure asset owners to India, the company promoted by Billionaire Anil Agarwal said Monday.Sterlite Power’s top executive told ET that this is a part of the company’s strategy to tie up with companies with niche technology.\"Entire world is moving towards a model where operation and maintenance of assets in transmission, oil and gas, and roadways projects are being done by drones which offer accuracy and reduces the downtime and cost. We believe this company will become a clear leader in this space when we launch it,\" Pratik Agarwal, chief executive officer, Sterlite Power, told ET.The company did not disclose the size of the stake acquired of the financial consideration for it. Prior to this, the two companies had signed a partnership agreement in February to deliver drone technologies for the power transmission industry.Sharper Shape, which has a presence in the US and Finland, will soon launch operations in India with the help of Sterlite Power once it has approvals from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation for large-scale, long-distance drone flights to inspect utility assets.\"India has more than a million circuit kilometres transmission lines and another three million kilometres of distributions lines and this entire network is the target market for Sharper Shape. Sterlite is dedicated to new technology and we think this is a great opportunity for us to add a new technology to our portfolio,\" Agarwal.He said that the company is open to partnerships, tie-ups and acquiring minority stakes in companies that offer new technology, which is in line with company’s core business.\"We continue to look at niche technology who help us in creating power delivery solutions in India and globally,\" Agarwal said. Follow and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Youtube"
<https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/sterlite-power-buys-minority-stake-in-drone-company-sharper-shape/53605685>