The government has invited bids for delivery of medical supplies and vaccines by drones to various parts of the country, in order to tackle supply hurdles hampering Covid vaccination programmes in far-flung areas of the country.
However, the tender criteria demands that an entity must be eligible to conduct Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations in order to become eligible. Currently, no drone companies are eligible to do BVLOS operations.
The tender has been called by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), closes on 22 June. “ICMR may support in getting DGCA approval only for this activity; however a prior approval from DGCA for BVLOS will be preferred,” the tender document says.
