Zomato & Swiggy get permit to test drone delivery

A senior DGCA official, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed the development that along with the delivery start-ups, budget airline SpiceJet, Reliance-backed drone startup Asteria Aerospace were among the 13 consortia which had received the approvals to test fly these drones.

Hyperlocal delivery startups including Dunzo, Swiggy and Zomato can begin to test fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones for deliveries, after receiving permission from Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

After multiple rounds of documentation, meetings, and scrutiny the BEAM committee selected Zomato, Swiggy, Zipline and Redwing, and Throttle Aerospace Systems for BVLOS drone experiments. Photo by Indranil Bhoumik/mint

A senior DGCA official, who didn’t want to be named, confirmed the development that along with the delivery start-ups, budget airline SpiceJet, Reliance-backed drone startup Asteria Aerospace were among the 13 consortia which had received the approvals to test fly these drones.

The DGCA wanted to see the commercial possibilities which could be achieved through the BVLOS drones, and set up the BVLOS Experiment Assessment and Monitoring (BEAM) committee, in the first half of 2019, calling in for applications.

After multiple rounds of documentation, meetings, and scrutiny the BEAM committee selected Zomato, Swiggy, Zipline and Redwing, and Throttle Aerospace Systems for BVLOS drone experiments.