Food Delivery via Drones to be Tested in India

India's aviation regulator has allowed food delivery firms Dunzo, Swiggy, and Zomato to start testing drones for deliveries beyond the visual line of sight.

The three food delivery firms are among the 13 consortia, including SpiceJet and Asteria Aerospace, that have received approvals from the Director-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to test fly drones.

Experimental long-range drone flights will be conducted in India beginning in the first week of July, signaling the country's first step to developing local drone-based services.

The consortia must complete at least 100 hours of flight time by September 30 and submit their reports to the DGCA.

Last month, budget airline SpiceJet received a go-signal to conduct drone trials. Its cargo arm, SpiceXpress, will be delivering medical emergency parcels and other essential supplies after trials.

Last year, Zomato completed a test delivery using drones that carried a load of five kilograms that covered five kilometers in 10 minutes, hitting as fast as 80 kilometers per hour.

Zomato targets a food delivery time of fewer than 15 minutes.

Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal noted that a delivery time of15 minutes is only possible via aerial route as roads would not allow very fast deliveries.