TechEagle launches Asia's first drone delivery hub in Meghalaya
First drone took off from Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital & delivered medicines to Padeldoba PHC in less than 30 mins
TechEagle, one of the fastest-growing drone delivery startup, unveiled Asia's first drone delivery hub and network in Meghalaya.
"The groundbreaking effort intends to improve the universal access to healthcare in the state by delivering vital supplies like drugs, diagnostic samples, vaccines, blood and blood components quickly and safely to different regions of the state using a dedicated drone delivery network," says an official release.
The project began with the inauguration of the hub built at the Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital by James P.K.Sangma, Minister, Health and Family Welfare, Meghalaya. "On the same day, the first official drone flight took off from Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital and delivered medicines to Padeldoba PHC in less than 30 minutes which would have otherwise taken 2.5 hours by road."
TechEagle's Vertiplane X3 drone delivered different healthcare products including snake venom-2 pax, Labetalol- 4 pax, Human Albumin-1 pax, Cefotaxime (typhoid dose)- 50 pax in its first flight, which was 5X faster in comparison to ground transportation, the release added.
"We are seeing something that is unparalleled in any place of the world," says Sangma. "It is a matter of pride for Meghalaya that we would be the first state to institutionalise this initiative and have a system that can be expanded to other areas of the state as well."
Vikram Singh Meena, CEO & Founder, TechEagle adds: "Transforming the logistics and healthcare supply chain is at the heart of TechEagle's vision and this launch of Meghalaya Drone Delivery Network (MDDN) is a first big step forward in the direction of achieving the goal of universal access to healthcare and logistics across the world. We are thankful to the Govt of Meghalaya & MHSSP to provide us this opportunity to create a larger impact on grass root level.
"MDDN & Hub in Phase 1 is a combination of one central Hub and 25 spokes (supply chain nodes) in a radius of 50 km where the drone hub at Jengal Hospital shall act as the centre point. TechEagle's drones are capable of vertical take off and landing from small areas, which enables both forward and reverse logistics of healthcare products in the network. MDDN would bring universal access to healthcare for 2.7 million people of Meghalaya."
TechEagle had successfully conducted India's first medicine delivery via a drone in Meghalaya in September 2021 where its hybrid e-VTOL drone Aquila X2 delivered lifesaving drugs successfully from Nongstoin District Hospital to Maweit PHC, situated 25 km apart from each other in less than 25 minutes, the release added.