The approvals are a part of DGCA program, called Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone operations. Experts say drones are already cheaper and more efficient for deliveries, but need to prove safety

BANGALORE: India’s civil aviation authority has selected the applications of Google-backed hyper local delivery startup Dunzo and Bangalore-based drone maker Throttle Aerospace Systems to test long-range and autonomous drone use, according to industry experts and top officials aware of the developments.

The approvals are a part of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s (DGCA) experimental programme, called beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations, which was notified in May. The BVLOS Experiment Assessment and Monitoring (BEAM) Committee will oversee the evidence collected on the use of drones and their safety aspects and submit findings before India frames laws for long range and autonomous drone use.

“We’re still in the process of approving the BVLOS experiments, but yes these two companies (Dunzo and Throttle Aerospace) have been selected and are awaiting signed letters from us,” said a senior government official on the condition of anonymity.

The two companies are likely to begin experimental drone flights from mid-to-late February 2020 and have identified air spaces outside of Bangalore, said people in the know of the matter.

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Half A Dozen Cos Await Approval

The companies will have to each clock 100 hours of drone flights before submitting the proof of concept to the DGCA, according to the requirements of the programme. The test flights are meant to evaluate the safety and robustness of the solutions.

Nagendran Kandasamy, founder and director of Throttle Aerospace said the experimental flights will not “carry full payloads. It’s more to showcase our Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM), safety and operational capabilities to the DGCA.” However, he declined to confirm if the company had received the DGCA’s approval.

Dunzo, in an email statement to ET, said that the company strives to stay up to date with the latest innovations. However, it declined to comment on the specifics, saying it was, “a bit early to comment on our process. For now, we will continue working proactively with new technologies to expedite that mission.”

In June, ET had reported that around half a dozen companies including cargo service provider SpiceXpress, Tata Advanced Systems, restaurant aggregator and food delivery service Zomato as well as medical product delivery companies Zipline and Redwing Aerospace had applied to conduct their BVLOS experiments. Subsequently in October, around seven consortium had received soft approvals from the DGCA, but were still waiting for the final clearance from the BVLOS Experiment Assessment and Monitoring (BEAM) Committee.

Throttle Aerospace is looking to build dronebased delivery solutions which can be scaled up in size and complexity. One of the company’s goals is to build a drone-based organ transport solution which could cut down the time of transporting organs from a few hours to a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Dunzo is looking at drone deliveries as a way to differentiate itself from bigger rivals such as food delivery app Swiggy, which has expanded its services to include doorstep deliveries of items such as groceries, flowers and medicines.

A person in the know of Dunzo’s plans said the company is looking at developing drone technology to set it apart from rivals and add value in the eyes of investors. “They know they can’t just keep burning money in doing deliveries and grow their valuation, so they’re investing in drones,” added the person.

Experts are of the view that long range drones can significantly enhance logistic services in the Indian hinterland and become a significant multiplier to the economy.

“The operating cost of a drone is already 18-20 times lesser than a truck, the only hurdles that remain is it’s more expensive than a bike and can’t carry as much as a truck,” said Tanuj Bhojwani, fellow at think tank iSPIRT.