The Government is providing conditional exemption for experimental drone flights for vaccine delivery as part of constant endeavour to enhance the scope of drone usage in the country and assist the nation to fight COVID-19 pandemic.
Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) & Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA)have granted conditional exemption to the Government of Telangana for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines.
Last month, the Government of Telangana was granted conditional exemption for conducting experimental delivery of Covid-19 vaccines within Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) Range using drones. To accelerate the drone deployment process to formulate application-based models, the grant has been extended to Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS). The trials may commence by end of May 2021.
Earlier, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was granted conditional exemption last month for conducting feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.
The grant of these permissions is intended to achieve the dual objectives of faster vaccine delivery and improved healthcare access
