Cargo drone startup TechEagle to move vaccines, medicines in Telangana

June 7, 2021: The delivery drone startup, TechEagle, has got official approvals to deliver vaccines and medicines supply in the state of Telangana using drones. This is being done in collaboration with the government of Telangana, NITI Aayog and the World Economic Forum.

"TechEagle is aiming to strengthen the healthcare ecosystem with on-demand and rapid delivery of medicines and vaccines across the country," reports Business Standard.

Vikram Singh Meena, founder and CEO of TechEagle, said, "Drones are capable of saving thousands of lives every day by supplying the essential medicines on time. We are working hard to improve billions of lives by providing easy access to healthcare and e-commerce. We are glad that central and state govts are keen to induct drones to strengthen the healthcare and logistics ecosystem."

TechEagle's drone will transport vaccines in temperature-controlled boxes from the distribution centre to the primary health centre (PHC) or community health centre and will collect samples in return flight.

TechEagle's Drone can deliver vaccines up to 70 km distance with a speed of 100 km/h. It can take off and land from a very small area of 3m*3m.

Singh said safety and security is of paramount importance to the firm. To achieve this , the company has built drones with precision navigation, detect and avoid for manned and unmanned aviation. The process also involves redundant communication, real-time monitoring and extreme weather handling capabilities and autonomous parachute for ultimate failsafe.

"Thus, our drones are fully capable of safe and reliable BVLOS (beyond visual line of sight) flights for package delivery," said Singh.

Anshu Abhishek, co-founder and chief operating officer of TechEagle said the ongoing pandemic presents a unique opportunity to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the country's existing healthcare system to ensure long-term resilience.

"The ministry of civil aviation, DGCA (Directorate General of Civil Aviation), AAI (Airports Authority of India) and all other authorities are working hand in hand with industry members to enable drones for the masses," said Abhishek.