DGCA nod clears runway for the Dawn of Drone age
Bengaluru: Delivery startups Dunzo, Swiggy and Zomato, budget airline SpiceJetNSE 1.12 % and Reliance-backed drone startup Asteria Aerospace are among 13 consortia that have received approvals to test fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drones.
India’s civil aviation regulator has given the go-ahead a little over a year after the country announced plans to allow experimental long-range drone flights before framing a policy for the sector. The tests, which will see the unmanned vehicles either carry payloads or survey vast swathes of land, are likely to begin in the first week of July. This will mark the first steps in India’s plan to develop local drone-based services capabilities, even as it plays catch up with China and the US.
