Meghalaya launches North-east region’s first drone delivery hub

Meghalaya took the lead in solving the issue of last mile connectivity by launching the North-east’s first Drone Delivery Hub and Network for delivery of vital healthcare products.

Established in partnership with drone delivery start-up TechEagle, the project commenced with the inauguration of Asia’s drone delivery hub at the Jengjal Sub-Divisional Hospital on Monday by James Sangma, Minister of Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs.

On Monday itself, the first official drone flight took off from the Hospital and it delivered medicines to Padeldoba PHC. The flight took less than 30 minutes while by road it would have taken two-and-a-half hours.

The drone used was TechEagle’s Vertiplane X3 Drone and it delivered different healthcare products including snake venom, labetalol, human albumin, cefotaxime (typhoid dose) in its first flight.

The initiative is expected to improve universal access to healthcare in Meghalaya by ensuring the delivery of important supplies like diagnostic samples, drugs, blood and blood components, anti-venoms, and vaccines, quickly and safely to different regions of the State.

On the occasion, Sangma commented: “We are seeing something that is unparalleled in any place of the world. It is a matter of pride for the State of Meghalaya that we would be the first state to institutionalize this initiative and have a system that can be expanded to other areas of the State as well.”