It seems drone deliveries for food will soon be a reality in India. Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has given permission to food delivery startups such as Zomato, Swiggy, and Dunzo to start testing long-range drones. The test is likely to begin in the first week of July.
According to reports, SpiceJet, Asteria Aerospace, Zomato, Swiggy and Dunzo are among 13 consortia who received the approvals to test fly drones. The consortia will have to complete around 100 hours of flight time at a specific airspace designated by Airport Authority of India and submit their reports to the DGCA.
This is a landmark decision and will soon change how food is delivered in India. Food delivery startups are also happy with this decision. They have already been working on this for quite sometimes and were waiting for government approval.
“We have been working on powering delivery via drones for some time now and welcome this move from DGCA to test our systems. We are excited to build the future of aerial food delivery in India,” Zomato spokesperson said.
For now, a drone that can delivery payload under 5 kg will require heavy investment and it will cost more than what a delivery person earns. But this tech could become cheaper with the time.
Last year, Zomato successfully completed a test delivery using drones. The drone carried a payload of 5 kg covered 5 kms in 10 minutes with a peak speed of 80 kmph. Zomato had also acquired local drone startup TechEagle in 2018 for drone delivery.
The food industry has been affected badly due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and online orders had been dropped by 70 percent in the last two months. The contactless delivery could be a game-changer in the current condition.
