Blue Dart forms team to run drone delivery

Hyderabad: Logistics service provider Blue Dart formed Blue Dart Med-Express Consortium with a mission of revolutionising the delivery of vaccines and emergency medical supplies to the remotest parts of India with drones. The consortium is part of the 'Medicine from the Sky' project in collaboration with the Government of Telangana, World Economic Forum, Niti Aayog and Healthnet Global.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) has granted the project with necessary exemptions and rights to fly drone flights on an experimental basis in Telangana. The aim is to assess an alternate logistics route in providing safe, accurate and reliable pickup and delivery of healthcare items such as medicines, covid-19 vaccines, units of blood, diagnostic specimens and other lifesaving equipment.

Balfour Manuel, Managing Director of Blue Dart says: "It's been over a year and our battle against Covid-19 continues to unfold new challenges that need solutions in real-time. The pandemic has taught each one of us the importance of logistics and the need for a tech-led supply chain infrastructure. The current situation calls for a much deeper penetration of vaccines."

Rama Devi Lanka, Director of Emerging Technologies and Officer on Special Duty (OSD), ITE&C Department, Government of Telangana, said that the project would generate real and actionable insights to drive future adoption policies and integration with the existing healthcare supply chain.