DTDC Partners Skye Air Mobility For Drone Delivery Of Parcels

Logistics company DTDC has partnered with drone maker Skye Air Mobility to deliver parcels via drones.

The first drone delivery covered a distance of 7.5 km from Bilaspur to Gurugram Sector 92 in just 3-4 minutes, the company said in a statement.

Following the launch in Gurugram, DTDC plans to expand its drone delivery service to other key locations across India. The next phase of this initiative will focus on identifying strategic regions where drone deliveries can offer the most significant impact, it added.

Building on its physical network of more than 16,000 channel partners, DTDC aims to further optimise the management of approximately 155 Mn parcels annually.

With this new move, DTDC wants to offer agile and hassle-free deliveries while contributing to eco-friendly logistics by reducing carbon emissions and traffic congestion.

“The partnership aims to address the evolving logistics landscape, driven by digitalisation and changing consumer behaviours, presenting us with an opportunity to redefine last-mile logistics in this country,” said Abhishek Chakraborty, chief executive officer of DTDC Express Ltd.

DTDC’s key rival Blue Dart also started drone deliveries last month in partnership with Skye Air. Back then, the company said it will initially focus on ecommerce deliveries and will deploy drones to offer last-mile services, although it did not specify the cities where the service will be operational.

In May, listed logistics unicorn Delhivery announced that it would set up a wholly-owned subsidiary, Delhivery Robotics India, to manufacture drones and provide freight air transportation services. Late last year, Shiprocket also partnered with Skye Air for drone deliveries around Gurugram.

As per an Inc42 report, the Indian drone market is expected to reach a size of $13 Bn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21% between 2022 and 2030. Two drone startups – DroneAcharya and ideaForge – also went public in the last couple of years.