100 Hours of BVLOS Drone Delivery Flights in India

ANRA Technologies has conducted 100 hours of Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone delivery flights in India, supporting a project initiated by the Directorate General of Aviation (DGCA) and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MOCA). The goals of the project included the collection of data and experience to inform the Indian regulatory process as government stakeholders prepare the next set of drone rules for BVLOS operations.

ANRA’s pilots flew 90 percent of the total flight hours alongside partner BetterDrones, which flew the remaining flight hours. The flight team deployed to the campus of the Indian Institute of Technology Ropar and the Etah district. Flights consisted of multirotor drones operating on ANRA’s SmartSkies CTR and SmartSkies DELIVERY software platforms, delivering products from Swiggy, India’s largest online food ordering and delivery platform.

In total, over 350 sorties were flown, covering 1,100 kilometers of incident-free operations. ANRA was the only UAS technology provider approved by the Government of India to lead two consortia as part of this pioneering initiative. One consortium consisted of ANRA and their partners Swiggy, Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT-R), and BetterDrones. The second consortium included ANRA and IIT-R, which focussed on medical deliveries. Following this experience, ANRA is now keen to support the World Economic Forum’s Medicines from the Sky project in India, operating drones for use cases such as vaccine delivery.

The project took months of planning, risk assessments, air traffic control integration, training, equipment preparation, and coordination that will culminate in a final report to the government. The BVLOS project is ongoing in India as the government seeks to fast-track its policies and prepare the local industry for a significant push into the global drone services segment.

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