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Updated May 8th, 2021 at 19:07 IST

Telangana gets nod for experimental BVLOS drones for COVID-19 vaccine delivery

MoCA and DGCA on Friday granted a conditional exemption to Telangana for conducting experimental BVLOS drone flights for vaccine delivery.

Reported by: Sudeshna Singh
Civil Aviation
Hakan Nural/ Ricardo Gomez Angel/ Unsplash | Image:self
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In a key development, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) & Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Friday granted a conditional exemption to the Government of Telangana for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone flights for delivery of vaccines. The exemption, which is granted to the government of Telangana for a period of one year or until further orders, is intended to achieve the dual objective of faster vaccine delivery and improved healthcare access by ensuring primary healthcare delivery at the citizen’s doorstep.

Exemption to Telangana for conducting drone flights for vaccine delivery

Announcing the news on its official Twitter handle, MoCA wrote, "GoI, in the exercise of the powers conferred by Rule 70 of the UAS Rules, 2021, granted Govt of Telangana conditional exemption from the rules, subject to complete adherence to the conditions and the directions/exemptions issued (or to be issued in future) by MoCA."

In another tweet, the ministry cleared the air around the time period of the exemption, and wrote, "This exemption will remain valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said SOPs or until further orders, whichever is earlier."

Telangana confirms, targets to start delivery by 4th week of May

Confirming the news,  the Telangana government asserted that the airspace in Vikarabad was already cleared by the Airport Authority of India and is currently being reviewed by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Once all that is done, the operations shall begin and the same is being planned with a target to start in the 4th week of May or early June, subject to all other clearances by the MHA. It is pertinent to mention here that as per information provided by the Telangana government, the maximum permitted height for drone operations is 400 feet above ground level, and the time of operation is limited between local sunrise and local sunset.

Last month, the Government of Telangana was granted a conditional exemption for conducting experimental delivery of Covid-19 vaccines within the Visual Line of Sight (VLOS) Range using drones. To accelerate the drone deployment process to formulate application-based models, the grant has now been extended to Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS).

(Credit-Hakan Nural/ Ricardo Gomez Angel/ Unsplash)

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Published May 8th, 2021 at 19:07 IST

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