A recent partnership with ANRA Technologies, a provider of end-to-end drone operations and traffic management solutions, shows Swiggy, a food ordering and delivery platform in India, hasn’t deviated from its mission “to make life easier by changing the way India eats - all with just a tap”. As partners, both companies will work towards a Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) drone delivery program in India.

Building upon years of successful international experience, ANRA was granted exemptions by the Indian Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to two consortia to operate drones for BVLOS operations in the country. While the initial focus is on delivering food and other essential items in the cities of Ropar and Etah, these operations should help to fast-track India’s unmanned systems policy and prepare the local industry for a major push into the drone services segment globally.

Other than Swiggy, the BVLOS operations, scheduled to begin in mid-July, will also see the participation of two other partners that have commercial and humanitarian use cases to advance drone operations for India: The Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar (IIT Ropar), which is helping to expand the reach and enhance the quality of technical education in the country, as well as BetterDrones, a drone service provider and training institution for the agriculture, mining, survey, monitoring, and inspection industries.

“The recent COVID 19 has shown that remote and unmanned delivery of essential items can not only be a usual business proposition but can be a life-saving endeavor aimed at restricting infections under such emergencies,” stated Sarit Kumar Das, Director, IIT Ropar. “IIT Ropar has already started efforts in this direction. I'm sure the present collaboration will bring out products and services of significant business and social impact."

Powered by ANRA SmartSkies CTR and SmartSkies Delivery platforms, the Swiggy App will allow Swiggy customers to place on-demand orders for snacks, food items, beverages, and other essentials. ANRA SmartSkies solutions provide execution and management of drone operations in controlled and uncontrolled airspace, ensuring the safety of the National Airspace and seamless integration into the legacy ATC systems. After a customer places an order, the drone will fly to a predetermined drop site within an eight square kilometer area, and a Swiggy driver will make the final delivery by motorcycle to the customer’s doorstep. During the whole process, customers can follow drone flights in real-time to know exactly when their delivery will arrive.

“It is by leveraging technology that Swiggy transformed the food delivery industry and made it a part of everyday urban life in India,” said Alok Jain, Entrepreneur in Residence, Swiggy. “As thought leaders in the space, we are constantly working towards pushing the envelope with technological innovations applied to deliver convenience at scale. ANRA’s world-class domain expertise combined with Swiggy’s deep market knowledge will enable the laying of groundwork for BVLOS operations for food delivery use cases. We believe that drone technology utilized to deliver consumer services will provide an unprecedented boost to the business while elevating the quality of life of urban consumers.”