First-of-its-kind: Bengaluru apartment gets drone delivery of daily essentials

Bengaluru: Residents of a Bengaluru apartment complex no longer has to battle traffic or wait for doorstep deliveries — drones are now bringing groceries, medicines, and daily essentials straight to them.

Prestige Falcon City, located on Kanakapura Road, has partnered with quick commerce platform BigBasket to enable deliveries within five to 10 minutes.

This is said to be the first-of-its-kind partnership in Bengaluru between a quick commerce platform and an apartment complex for the delivery of groceries, medicines, and daily essentials.

The trial for this pilot project has been operational since March, but it was officially launched last week, according to a BigBasket staff member.

Avinash HV, president of the Bengaluru Apartment Federation for Bengaluru South and a member of the Residents' Welfare Association (RWA) at Prestige Falcon City, said deliveries are handled by a dedicated BigBasket executive after the items are brought to the apartment premises by the drone.

"There is a seven-kilo limit for items that can be delivered through the drone. We partnered with BigBasket to avoid traffic congestion and make deliveries more convenient, both in terms of delivery time and by limiting the number of people entering the premises. Drone delivery allows one executive to manage and ensure orders reach the respective flats on time,” he said.

He added that the service is available from 7 am to 8 pm. “If the order weighs under seven kilos, the items are delivered within four to five minutes to Prestige Falcon City,” he said.

A BigBasket staff member said the dark store (storage facility) is located about six kilometers from the apartment complex, and the deliveries are currently being carried out using two drones.

He added that the drones do not have cameras to ensure individual privacy and operate solely through GPS-based navigation. At present, the quick commerce platform is using drones manufactured by Skye Air Mobility.

While two drones are currently operating from the BigBasket dark store built specifically for the residential complex, both are deployed when an order exceeds seven kilos to ensure smooth delivery to the approximately 2,500 flats in the apartment complex.

"This is an efficient strategy in the quick commerce business as it saves a lot of time and labour — delivery executives don’t have to navigate heavy traffic to make timely deliveries. The drones handle it hassle-free,” he said, adding that much work remains before this service can be expanded to other parts of the city, particularly in terms of air route clearances and operational strategy.