Vaccine Delivery! Ministry of Civil Aviation GRANTS drone use PERMISSION to ICMR, IIT-Bombay

Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) and Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) have granted conditional exemption from Drone Rules, 2021 to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B).  

The permission has been granted to ICMR for conducting experimental Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) vaccine delivery in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Manipur, and Nagaland up to a height of 3,000 meters using drones.  

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (IIT-B) has received drone use permission for research, development and testing of drones in its own premises. 

This exemption shall be subject to the terms and conditions of the said airspace clearance and shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of approval of the said airspace clearance or until further orders, whichever is earlier. 

The link to the public notices can be accessed from the Ministry of Civil Aviation website. 

Earlier, on 11th September 2021, Union Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia had launched first of its kind ‘Medicines from the Sky’ project at Vikarabad in Telangana state under which drugs and vaccines will be delivered using drones. 

On 25th August 2021, the Ministry of Civil Aviation notified the liberalised Drone Rules, 2021 to usher in an era of super-normal growth while balancing safety and security considerations in drone operations. 

As per the New Drone Policy, many clearances are no longer needed. They include - Unique Authorization Number, Unique Prototype Identification Number, Consent Certificate, Maintenance Certificate, Operator Permit, Approval of R&D Institute, Remote Pilot License for Trainee, Approval of Remote Pilot Instructor, Approval for Import of Drone Parts. 

The new drone rules now cover drones that can carry up to 500 kg. Earlier, the limit was limited to 300 kg. The government aims to promote payload lifters, drones and drone taxis.

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Approvals reduced from 25 to 5, registration of a drone or obtaining licence no longer require approval of security agencies. In addition, the fees for approval are also only nominal.