The Civil Aviation Ministry on Thursday permitted the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to conduct a feasibility study on using drones to deliver the Covid-19 vaccine, according to an official statement.
The ICMR will conduct this study in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur, the ministry's press release said.
The ministry said it has granted "conditional exemption" from the "Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021" so that it can conduct a feasibility study on using drones to deliver the Covid-19 vaccine.
This exemption will be valid for a period of one year or until further orders, it noted.
Furthermore, conditional drone use exemption has been granted to the below entities for said purposes for a period of one year or until further orders:
• Nagar Nigam of Dehradun, Haldwani, Haridwar & Rudrapur for preparation of GIS-based property database & electronic tax register.
• West Central Railway, (WCR) Kota for train accident site & maintaining safety & security of the railway assets for a period of one year from the date of issue of the letter.
• West Central Railway, (WCR) Katni for train accident site & maintaining safety & security of the railway assets for a period of one year from the date of issue of the letter.
In addition to these, Vedanta Ltd. (Cairn Oil & Gas) also received the conditional drone usage exemption for data acquisition for asset inspecting & mapping till 08/04/2022.
With PTI inputs
