Maharashtra to distribute emergency medical supplies using drones

MUMBAI: The Government of Maharashtra is joining hands with Zipline, the only large scale drone delivery service active at the moment, to initiate a drone-based emergency medical supply service beginning as early as first half of 2020. Serum Institute of India (SII), one of the largest manufacturer of vaccine across the world, is supporting the initiative by providing grants to the project.

According to the plan of the Government of Maharashtra, the service will begin by early 2020, with Zipline tasked with setting up basic infrastructure for the project in Pune and Nandurbar.

Post the development and success of the event, more such centers would be set up so that emergency network has the potential to cover any location within the state in a matter of minutes.

The drones will not require any additional infrastructure or manpower and will take off and land at Zipline’s distribution centers

Upto 1.8 kg cargo can be flown autonomously at 110 kmph by the drone and with a round trip range of 160 km and being able to withstand any adverse weather condition.