Dunzo to deliver medicines via drones in Telangana
Hyperlocal startup Dunzo has announced that it will be launching a pilot programme to use drones to deliver medicines in Telangana.In a press statement, the company stated that it is leading a Med-Air consortium, along with industry experts to conduct experimental BVLOS (Below Visual Line of Sight) drone delivery flights for the ‘Medicine from the Sky Project’. The project aims to serve different districts in the state of Telangana for medical supplies.
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The government has partnered with the World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog, and HealthNet Global for ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project, with the support of leaders in medicine, technology, and research. The company added that this much-needed initiative will also ensure that the delivery of essentials like vaccines and medicines continues to be supported while dealing with infrastructural challenges and lockdowns.
Under the Telangana government’s ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project, delivery service company Dunzo Digital and a tech firm will jointly conduct trials for the delivery of medicines and vaccines by drones.
nder the Telangana government’s ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project, delivery service company Dunzo Digital and tech firm Skye Air will jointly conduct trials for drone delivery of medicines and vaccines. The trials will begin on September 20 in Telangana’s Vikarabad and will continue till September 25.
Skye Air, which focuses on an end-to-end ecosystem for drone-based logistics, is a part of the Dunzo MedAir consortium for the Government of Telangana’s ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project. The company will work in collaboration with Dunzo Digital to enable faster and efficient drone-based healthcare logistics during the six-day trial.
Dunzo Digital, which is backed by Google, is a hyper-local on-demand delivery service company based out of Bengaluru. The company operates in Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai and Hyderabad.
“We believe our participation in the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project will facilitate a more connected state and country. This technology will allow for almost instantaneous access to vaccines and medicines from the most populous to most remote areas in India in the near future,” said, Kabeer Biswas, CEO and Founder, Dunzo.
“As our delivery partners continue to keep our cities safe on the ground, we are working round the clock to meet the urgency of demand for essentials,” he added.
Confident about the trials, the co-founder of Skye Air, Swapnik Jakkampundi, said, “We have had a successful Telangana trial run so far. Dunzo Med Air Consortium will have multiple test use cases, including extended and reverse logistics in Vikarabad. These will be BVLOS trials which will continue over the next six days. The drones will provide delivery at a distance of up to 12 kilometres within an expected time frame of 18 minutes with each drone carrying vaccines in temperature-controlled boxes powered by Bagmo. We are happy to share the vision of Dunzo towards enabling deliveries via drones.”
Tech startup Dunzo Digital is leading a consortium along with industry experts to pilot drone delivery of medicines in the state of Telangana.
The consortium will conduct experimental BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight ) drone delivery flights for the ‘Medicine from the Sky Project.’ It aims at serving different districts in the state of Telangana for medical supplies. The drone delivery system will focus on an end-to-end ecosystem for drone-based logistic transportation and utilize the existing logistics network of the state.
Launched by the Telangana government and the World Economic Forum, the program aims at creating a large-scale impact and helping curb the spread of Covid-19 in the state. This will also help later support the delivery of essentials like vaccines and medicines.
“Telangana is one of the most proactive states looking to adopt emerging technologies, and the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project using drones is in line with the same principles. This project is one of the first such programs in the country where multiple drones would fly BVLOS to establish their value proposition for the healthcare supply chain. The vision is to ensure healthcare equity for rural areas,” said Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, principal secretary, ITE&C department, Government of Telangana.
“Using technology we can now ensure that no matter where people live, life-saving essentials can and should reach them. We appreciate the Government of Telangana’s recognition of the role technology can play in today’s world to build safer cities,” said Kabeer Biswas, CEO and founder of Dunzo Digital.
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