In a step to make drones accessible for civilians and commercial purposes, startups such as Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo, Zipline, Redwing, Tata Advanced Systems, and Honeywell, have been asked for a detailed plan from the Directorate General of Civicl Aviation (DGCA) in order to get permission for drone deliveries, reported Inc42, citing report by ET.
According to the report, the DGCA has sought further details from seven consortia that had applied to conduct long-range, or beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), drone experiments.
The DGCA had sought applications from players interested in conducting BVLOS drone operations on an experimental basis in May, the report said.
The seven companies shortlisted were selected after 27 other applicants were reportedly rejected. The DGCA had reportedly sought additional technical details pertaining to a company’s BVLOS application.
However, approvals to conduct the experiments were to be received in August, with each approved party receiving two months for preparations and two more months to run experiments.
Importantly, medical delivery providers Zipline and Redwing, have collaborated with the state governments of Uttarakhand and Maharashtra to enable the delivery of drugs, vaccines and blood packets to remote areas.
Furthermore, Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo are likely to conduct technical demonstrations without actually delivering packages to customers due to Digital Sky rules in metros.
According to a global market intelligence and advisory firm BIS Research, the Indian drone market is expected to be valued at $885.7 Mn by 2021, while the global opportunity is estimated to touch $21.47 Bn during this period.