Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) has entered into a Share Subscription and Shareholders Agreement (SSSHA) with Maraal Aerospace, an IIT Kanpur–incubated deep-tech start-up, at India Energy Week (IEW) 2026 in Goa on 29 January 2026. The agreement marks a new step in building India’s clean-energy and deep-tech aerospace ecosystem.
Through HPCL’s start-up support programme ‘HP Udgam’, the company will invest Rs. 2 crore in Maraal Aerospace to accelerate product development, testing and system validation, supporting quicker product readiness and scale-up.
Maraal Aerospace is developing India’s first solar-powered long-endurance drone based on clean-energy propulsion. The platform combines high-efficiency aerodynamics with solar-assisted electric propulsion and is designed to deliver up to 12 hours of endurance, a 150 km one-way range and a service ceiling of up to 6 km above mean sea level. The UAV is positioned as a low operating cost solution with reduced logistical dependence.
The company said the platform is expected to support defence and critical civilian missions such as border and maritime surveillance, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR), infrastructure and asset inspection, and disaster response operations. Maraal Aerospace is also developing a solar and hydrogen hybrid variant aimed at achieving 24-hour endurance, and a future high-altitude pseudo-satellite platform designed for missions exceeding 90 days.
With this partnership, HPCL reiterated its focus on strengthening indigenous innovation in clean-energy and deep-tech start-ups. HPCL operates refineries on India’s east and west coasts and holds equity stakes in the HMEL and MRPL joint venture refineries.
A greenfield joint venture refinery in Rajasthan is under construction. HPCL also operates a nationwide marketing network of 24,572 retail outlets and 6,389 LPG distributorships, supported by infrastructure that includes 80 POL depots and terminals, LPG import facilities at Visakhapatnam and Mangalore, 55 LPG bottling plants, 59 aviation service facilities, and a pipeline network spanning 5,440 km. Along with joint ventures and subsidiaries, HPCL has developed gas infrastructure including a 5 MMTPA LNG storage and regasification terminal at Chhara, Gujarat, and has authorisation to develop CGD networks across 25 geographical areas.
