As part of a strategic partnership, Jeena & Co has provided on ground logistics support to TechEagle in successful completion of Asia’s first drone-based vaccine delivery project in complete cold chain environment for the Telangana government. During the project, TechEagle’s drone delivered vaccines in a temperature-controlled box weighing 2.5kg for an aerial distance of 11.5km drone maintained 2.40C through out the flight.
For the project Jeena Criticare managed the on-ground logistics and transportation while TechEagel was the drone OEM and operator for the specialised drone-enabled medical supply chain.
The above partnership is a step forward for logistics and supply chain companies, 3PL and 4PL players, as they accelerate the tech adoption across supply chains, embracing emerging deep tech like drones, AI, ML, and robotics.
This, especially in the backdrop of the recently liberalised drone technology rules, is in line with the Central Government’s ambitious plans to reduce the Logistics costs of the country through a combination of policy, technology adoption and infrastructure development. With the aftermath of the 2nd wave still fresh and the looming fear of a potential 3rd wave, it was only natural that the drone powered deliveries be first applied to medical and temperature sensitive pharma supply chains.
Speaking about the strategic partnership, Cyrus Katgara, Director, Jeena & Co added, “As one of the leading brands in end-to-end logistics and supply chain solutions in the country, we believe in not just staying relevant but also leading change. Our partnership with TechEagle is part of our commitment to driving digitally enabled efficiencies across our own business operations as well as to enhance our service offerings, such that it can add value and delight to our customers.”
“We also welcome the new policies introduced by the central government, around the use of drones for the private sector and I think these will go a long way in making drones affordable and accessible, allowing logistics and supply chain players to cut costs, reduce delivery times and drive efficiency, while optimising human resources and minimising dependency on road transport, that is marred with delays and roadblocks. Deploying drones can reduce the delivery time for a 2-hour road journey, to a mere 15-20 mins flight time! In the near future, with TechEagle as our drone delivery partner, we aim to expand our drone based service offerings to our existing and potential clients across retail, manufacturing, F&B, as well as Healthcare and Pharma. With the right partners by your side, the world can truly be your oyster!”
Speaking about the recent achievement and the potential long term growth plans with Jeena & Co, Vikram Singh Meena, Founder and CEO, TechEagle Innovations said, “With our vision to create the worlds largest on demand drone logistics network for package delivery in minutes to save lives, time and money, we are excited to partner with one of the legacy brands in the country. The positive policy amendments, including the recent liberalised Drone Rules 2021 and the accelerated push on digital adoption across supply chains, has opened several avenues where drones could not only disrupt and drive logistics and supply chain networks, but also be a game changer for Indian logistics, helping reduce the costs and get an edge in the international market scenario.”
“Being the front runner of drone delivery, we could not have asked for a better partner than Jeena with over 100 years of experience, reach and domain expertise, we have already completed Asia’s first drone-based vaccine delivery as part of the ‘Medicine from the Sky’ project by Telangana Government, World Economic Forum, NITI Aayog, and Apollo Hospitals. We look forward to transform last- and mid-mile supply chain with our indigenous drone technology and Jeena’s 100+ years of domain expertise.”
The recent Drone Liberalisation Policy announced by the central government in August 2021, is set to accelerate the drone tech adoption across sectors, include defence, mining, healthcare and logistics. This move is also in line with the government’s ambitious National Logistics Policy, which aims to bring a series of infrastructure and policy changes, and will aid in bringing down the overall logistics costs of the country.
With a number of relaxations in in the drone procurement and use by the private sector, the new policy has also increased the permissible weight load for drones and drone taxis, from the previous 300 kgs to 500Kg, which translates as major disrupter for the logistics sector. The move, when implemented, will help logistics and supply chain sector to optimise resources and minimise dependency on conventional modes of transport, while also building greener supply chain networks.
