TechEagle, a Gurugram-based DeepTech start-up drone that is building drone logistic airline, has partnered with the Meghalaya government and Smart Village Movement (SVM) to carry out India’s first hybrid e-VTOL drone delivery of lifesaving medicines.
The collaboration is aimed at transforming the healthcare supply chain for hard-to-reach population.
According to a statement, issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the doctors at Nongstoin district hospital gave the medicine box to TechEagle team to load inside the drone.
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Upon successful loading of the medicine into the drone bay, TechEagle’s e-VTOL Drone AquilaX2 took off from the Nongstoin District Hospital vertically like a helicopter and converted automatically into fixed wing (like passenger aircraft) mode upon reaching the mission height.
The drone completed the aerial distance of 25 km at 90 kmph speed to reach Maweit PHC.
As soon as it reached the landing point at Maweit PHC, the drone converted itself back to the rotary wing mode to land vertically like a helicopter.
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A TechEagle team unloaded the package and handed over the medicine box to the doctors at Maweit PHC.
“TechEagle’s e-VTOL Aquila X2 delivered the lifesaving drugs successfully to a 25 km distance in less than 25 minutes. Drones have potential to improve lives of 18,50,000 citizens of Meghalaya,” the CMO stated.
The company’s state-of-the-art drone delivery technology ensures consistent, safe and reliable distribution of life-saving drugs (medicines, vaccines, blood and other medical essentials) in several parts of the state with the reverse logistics of samples for quick diagnosis.
Commenting on the launch, Meghalaya chief minister Conard K Sangma said: “I would like to congratulate the entire team of TechEagle, Smart village movement and the health department who made this very unique and one of a kind project a success.”
“We all know what great technology can do but to be able to use it for the benefit of the citizens of the state, something which is so meaningful to the people. Here the technology has been used for a very good cause.”
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“We look forward to use the technology in the long run. Today, we have used it for the healthcare and in future, we hopefully will be able to use this in agriculture and other allied sectors,” the Meghalaya CM said.
Vikram Singh Meena, Founder & CEO of TechEagle said, “Aerial routes are the best possible way to access hard-to-reach places in hilly terrains of Northeast. Today, we are proud of the fact that TechEagle’s made in India Hybrid e-VTOL is solving grassroot problems faced by citizens living in the remote areas.”
“We have reduced delivery time from 4 hours to 25 minutes. e-VTOL drone technology is going to leave a huge impact to enable better healthcare in the remotest parts of the world,” Meena added.
Speaking about the benefits of drone delivery, Tulenam Laloo, Project Lead, Healthcare at Smart Village Movement, Berkely Haas, said, “The use of drone-based deliveries in healthcare is a promising means to augment supply chain management and support last-mile access.”
“Meghalaya and other North-east states would immensely benefit from its application, considering the unique terrain. The use case to be studied through TechEagle’s trial at West Khasi Hills District shall be something that we shall look forward to,” Laloo said.
TechEagle is a pioneer and leader in drone delivery in India. It enables government departments & enterprises around the world to transport parcels for last-mile & mid-mile logistics.