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E-commerce deliveries may never be the same again. German logistics major Deutsche Post-DHL is exploring the use of drones to deliver goods to tap the growing Indian e-commerce market.
Called Parcelcopters, the drones will help DHL provide last-mile delivery, especially in the smaller towns where it soon plans to set up operations.
DHL e-commerce’s CEO Charles Brewer told BusinessLine that the company and its Indian subsidiary Bluedart Express will soon be talking to the Indian government to understand the regulations on the use of drones for product delivery.
“It is very early stages and we have to talk to the government to lodge a registration to do some tests. Lets see how it pans out,” Brewer said, adding that drones are an effective way of logistics services in the secondary and tertiary market. He further added that the company is investing 70 million Euros to improve and strengthen its ecommerce-led operations in India.
The logistics major has concluded a test of its third-generation Parcelcopter drones in Germany and plans to take it to other developed markets, according to the company’s website.
But in India, DHL might have to wait longer to make delivery through drones as the government is yet to formulate guidelines on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.
According to sources, the aviation regulator (Director-General of Civil Aviation) is in the process of finalising the guidelines.
Experts say that if the government allows delivery through drones, several ecommerce companies like Amazon and Flipkart would be able to solve the problems of timely delivery to inaccessible areas of the country.
In 2014, e-commerce giant Amazon was planning to start drone delivery trials in India but had to stall the pilots as they did not get permission from the government. A pizza chain had also tried to deliver a pizza in Mumbai but was intercepted by the local police.
Draft regulations Sai Pattabiram, Managing Director of Chennai-based drone hardware maker Sree Sai Aerotech Innovations, said the DGCA has issued draft regulations covering all aspects of drones.
“Once the regulations get implemented then the use of drones will boom. Agriculture services providers would be major users but drone applications for point to point delivery will also pick up,” he said.
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