June 23, 2021
BANGALORE, INDIA (AFP) – An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas.
Greater use of drones could be a game-changer for medical services in the South Asian nation’s hard-to-reach rural areas where healthcare is limited and roads often poor, experts said.
Throttle Aerospace Systems is among 20 organisations granted permits by the government since May to conduct experimental flights beyond the current limit of 450 metres. Two drones – one that can carry up to one kilogramme for 20 kilometres or nearly an hour, and another that can lift two kilogrammes for 15 kilometres – were tested on Monday in the southern state of Karnataka.