India permits study on possible drone delivery of Covid-19 vaccines

April 23, 2021: Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday have granted a conditional exemption to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for conducting a feasibility study of Covid-19 vaccine delivery using drones in collaboration with IIT Kanpur.

The permission exemption is valid for a period of one year or until further orders.

Furthermore, conditional drone use exemption has been granted to the four more entities for different purposes for a period of one year or until further orders.

"These exemptions shall be valid only if all conditions and limitations as stated for the respective entities are strictly adhered to. In case of violation of any condition, the exemption shall become null and void and action may be initiated by MoCA & DGCA. The links of the public notice of the drone usage permission grant to the aforementioned entities can be accessed from the MoCA website.," reads the MoCA release.

The public notice noted that ICMR had sought an exemption from UAS Rules, 2021 on Feb 12, 2021, through email for the same purpose.