Swiggy launches pilot, but drone delivery will take time

Food aggregator Swiggy may have finalised bids for deploying drones to deliver grocery and essential items in several cities but the day of flying objects dropping orders at customers' doorsteps is still far away.

While the idea has excited drone manufacturers, experts have flagged DGCA regulations, security and privacy as some of the issues that need to be addressed before the move takes off in the country.

"They are not using drone services for end-delivery," an industry expert tracking Swiggy's plans told DH.

"It will be used only to move from one Instamart to another. They are also going to experiment delivering to a common point from where the delivery boy will pick it up and deliver it to the customers."

He added that the pilot project will see if it is "feasible and going to work".

Instamarts are Swiggy hubs from where groceries are supplied to customers.

On Friday night, a Swiggy statement said the pilot will be executed in two tranches by Garuda Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. (in Bengaluru) and Skyeair Mobility Pvt Ltd. (in Delhi/NCR). Tranche 2 will be covered by ANRA + TechEagle Consortia and Marut Dronetech Pvt. Ltd, the company said.

Swiggy's move has cheered drone manufacturers.

Saurabh Jolly, Chief Operating Officer, Aerodyne India Ventures Pvt Ltd told DH, "This is a very big segment for the future market. We see large-scale adoption by 2025/26 and till that time a lot of preparation work needs to be done."

Explaining the challenges involved, Saurabh said that from take-off to landing of the drone delivery services, the creation of an ecosystem or supporting infrastructure is necessary.

"Drones commissioned for such operations need to be built with the maximum redundancies due to the risks involved in urban operations," he said.

Dr V G Kiran Kumar, Director of Vishal Infrastructure Ltd, felt that it may not be easy for any kind of deliveries in cities due to lack of uniformity of buildings and wires hanging all around. "If it is planned properly, it can be carried out in specific places. I see challenges in terms of cost as many components are imported and offering the services at competitive prices is challenging," he said.

Scientists, however, think companies should factor in the practicality of using drones. Dr S N Omkar, Chief Research Scientist, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, told DH that drones for door delivery of food in cities is not very practical as of now.

"The main challenges are with regard to privacy and security issues. Drones flying over houses may take a photograph violating privacy, what if it causes injury to someone and how secure are drones from hacking?"

Dr Omkar also raised the point that DGCA has several regulations and BIS has set some standards for drones.

He felt it is too far-fetched to see drone-based food delivery as a replacement for the current two-wheeler-based delivery system.

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