<p>An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas.</p>.<p>Greater use of drones could be a game-changer for medical services in the South Asian nation's hard-to-reach rural areas where healthcare is limited and roads often poor, experts say.</p>.<p>Throttle Aerospace Systems is among 20 organisations granted permits by the government since May to conduct experimental flights beyond the current limit of 450 metres (1,475 feet).</p>.<p>Two drones -- one that can carry up to one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) for 20 kilometres (12 miles) or nearly an hour, and another that can lift two kilos for 15 kilometres -- were tested on Monday in the southern state of Karnataka.</p>.<p>"Medicines was the payload here and... 2.5 kilometres were covered in seven minutes and it delivered the medicines at the designated point and the drone returned," Throttle's co-founder, Sebastian Anto, told AFP at the test site in the southern state of Karnataka.</p>.<p>The government this month also invited bids from drone operators to help set up a pilot project for the delivering of medical supplies as it seeks to bolster its faltering coronavirus vaccination drive.</p>.<p>The epidemiology chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Samiran Panda, told The Hindu daily newspaper that the technology could help vaccinate priority groups in hard-to-reach places.</p>.<p>"We need smart vaccination instead of mass vaccination to stem an epidemic," Panda told the newspaper last week.</p>.<p>India lags behind many other nations when it comes to drones -- or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- both in terms of their uses and the regulatory framework.</p>.<p>Under current regulations, they have to be flown in full view, or within 450 metres, of their operators on the ground.</p>.<p>In Germany, researchers are reportedly testing drone prototypes that can track down disaster victims by their screams.</p>.<p>In Australia, drones using artificial intelligence algorithms are being used to spot crocodiles and count koalas in rugged terrain.</p>.<p>India, home to 1.3 billion people spread across some 3.2 million square kilometres (1.15 million square miles), is the world's seventh-largest country by land mass.</p>.<p>"Drone technology would have a huge impact in those areas where emergency medicines and vaccines could be supplied," co-founder of lobby group the Drone Federation of India, Vipul Singh, told AFP.</p>.<p>"Where it takes a few hours to travel 20-30 kilometres by road, whereas a drone can actually travel that distance in 10 to 15 minutes," said Singh, also the co-founder of Bangalore-based Aarav Unmanned Systems.</p>
<p>An aviation firm has carried out the first tests in India of longer-range drone deliveries, as hopes grow that they could deliver medicines as well as Covid-19 vaccines to remote areas.</p>.<p>Greater use of drones could be a game-changer for medical services in the South Asian nation's hard-to-reach rural areas where healthcare is limited and roads often poor, experts say.</p>.<p>Throttle Aerospace Systems is among 20 organisations granted permits by the government since May to conduct experimental flights beyond the current limit of 450 metres (1,475 feet).</p>.<p>Two drones -- one that can carry up to one kilogramme (2.2 pounds) for 20 kilometres (12 miles) or nearly an hour, and another that can lift two kilos for 15 kilometres -- were tested on Monday in the southern state of Karnataka.</p>.<p>"Medicines was the payload here and... 2.5 kilometres were covered in seven minutes and it delivered the medicines at the designated point and the drone returned," Throttle's co-founder, Sebastian Anto, told AFP at the test site in the southern state of Karnataka.</p>.<p>The government this month also invited bids from drone operators to help set up a pilot project for the delivering of medical supplies as it seeks to bolster its faltering coronavirus vaccination drive.</p>.<p>The epidemiology chief of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Samiran Panda, told The Hindu daily newspaper that the technology could help vaccinate priority groups in hard-to-reach places.</p>.<p>"We need smart vaccination instead of mass vaccination to stem an epidemic," Panda told the newspaper last week.</p>.<p>India lags behind many other nations when it comes to drones -- or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles -- both in terms of their uses and the regulatory framework.</p>.<p>Under current regulations, they have to be flown in full view, or within 450 metres, of their operators on the ground.</p>.<p>In Germany, researchers are reportedly testing drone prototypes that can track down disaster victims by their screams.</p>.<p>In Australia, drones using artificial intelligence algorithms are being used to spot crocodiles and count koalas in rugged terrain.</p>.<p>India, home to 1.3 billion people spread across some 3.2 million square kilometres (1.15 million square miles), is the world's seventh-largest country by land mass.</p>.<p>"Drone technology would have a huge impact in those areas where emergency medicines and vaccines could be supplied," co-founder of lobby group the Drone Federation of India, Vipul Singh, told AFP.</p>.<p>"Where it takes a few hours to travel 20-30 kilometres by road, whereas a drone can actually travel that distance in 10 to 15 minutes," said Singh, also the co-founder of Bangalore-based Aarav Unmanned Systems.</p>