30 Nov Bridging Rural Healthcare Logistics in Nizamabad with Droneco’s Medical Drones

The Rural Delivery Gap in India

India has nearly 20,000 PIN code areas, but only a small fraction enjoy rapid logistics service. Express and same-day delivery options are largely confined to major urban centers. For instance, in 2022 Amazon’s 4-hour Prime deliveries were available in just about 50 cities– a tiny slice of the country – even though 97% of “serviceable” pincodes could at best get two-day delivery. This highlights a glaring urban-rural divide in supply chain speed. In practice, remote towns and villages often rely on slow transportation links, meaning essential goods take much longer to reach them.

This gap is especially troubling in the healthcare sector. Many rural hospitals and clinics face delays of days for critical medical supplies. Inadequate road connectivity and infrequent courier routes translated to delivery cycles of 2–5 days (or more) for medicines and diagnostic samples in some regions. In fact, a field assessment in Telangana found that ground transport could not even complete certain medical deliveries on the same day due to distance and terrain. Such delays directly impact patient care – a life-saving vaccine or urgent blood unit stuck on the road for days is a gap that can cost lives.

Droneco’s Nizamabad Network: A Lifeline Takes Flight

Recognizing this rural logistics challenge, Droneco (formerly TSAW) positioned itself as a strategic enabler for healthcare delivery. After studying demand and infrastructure gaps, Droneco identified Nizamabad, Telangana as a key hub to pilot an express drone delivery network. In late 2022, the company set up a central warehouse in Nizamabad stocked with medicines and medical supplies to serve surrounding healthcare facilities. From this hub, Droneco’s drones began connecting over 10 towns and villages in the region – including Bodhan, Yedapally, Armoor, Banswada, Kotagiri, and as far as Nirmal. Each of these communities had previously been 4-6 hours away by road; now they were within minutes by air.

The service rollout in Nizamabad saw enthusiastic support from local authorities. District officials formally inaugurated the drone delivery network in November 2022, marking the start of regular drone logistics routes. Even elected representatives took note – Nizamabad MP D. Arvind lauded the program as “heartening” and noted that emergency medicines could now be sent from Nizamabad to distant towns like Nirmal within an hour. Telangana’s state leadership also acknowledged the milestone. IT Minister K. T. Rama Rao (KTR) highlighted the project on social media, echoing Chief Minister KCR’s vision of tech-driven social impact: he tweeted about “drones being used to airlift medicines from Nizamabad to Nirmal”, proud that Telangana was pioneering such innovations. This high-level endorsement underscored the significance of Droneco’s work as a model for public-good logistics.

How Drone Deliveries Work: Speed, Automation, and Safety

Once an order is placed by a hospital in the network, Droneco’s system springs into action. Medical drones are loaded at the Nizamabad hub with the required payload (medicines, vaccines, blood packets, etc.), and the delivery mission is defined through Droneco’s in-house Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) platform. The UTM software performs automated flight route planning and airspace deconfliction: it checks no-fly zones and restricted airspace (red, yellow, green zones) and charts a safe path for the drone. If a direct route crosses a restricted (red) zone, the system automatically recalculates an alternate flight path. This ensures regulatory compliance and flight safety without manual intervention. Once the route is approved, the drone does a quick self health check and then takes off autonomously

https://youtu.be/ZiPY6Jzb0og

Throughout the flight, both the UTM and a remote pilot monitor the drone in real time. The missions are largely autonomous (Droneco operates at Level 5 automation, meaning minimal human input) but a pilot is on standby to take manual control if needed for safety. Drones cruise at a few hundred feet altitude, easily above ground obstacles, and can travel point-to-point at high speed. Upon reaching the destination, they either land on a designated safe spot (like a hospital rooftop or open ground) or lower the package via winch if landing space is limited. Droneco coordinated with 45+ hospitals in the region to set up these drop zones – in many cases right on hospital premises, or within a 2 km radius if on-site landing was not feasible. This direct delivery model (warehouse to hospital) bypasses intermediate stops, ensuring the supply chain is lean and fast.

Crucially, Droneco’s drones operate Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) to cover significant distances quickly. Nizamabad’s network reaches up to ~54 km out (Nizamabad–Nirmal) in a single flight. The drones used include both multicopter models for short hops and fixed-wing hybrid drones for longer hauls, each capable of carrying several kilograms of medical cargo per trip. Every flight that Droneco runs is logged and overseen by the UTM, which also coordinates with aviation authorities to avoid any airspace conflicts. By leveraging automation and smart route planning, Droneco maintains a high level of safety and reliability even as it dramatically accelerates delivery times.

Results: Speeding up Rural Healthcare Logistics

The impact of Droneco’s Nizamabad drone corridor has been striking. What once took half a day or more by road now takes under an hour by air. On average, Droneco conducts around 9 delivery flights per day from the Nizamabad hub, creating a routine flow of medical supplies to outlying clinics. The typical turnaround time (TAT) for a drone delivery to these locations is just ~39 minutes. By comparison, ground transportation for the same routes used to average 5–6 hours (and that’s when same-day road delivery was even possible at all). In other words, Droneco slashed transit times by over 80%, converting half-day journeys into a matter of minutes. Such speed is particularly critical for emergency needs – blood units, anti-venom doses, or urgent medicines now reach doctors in timeframes that simply were not feasible before.

Other key outcomes and benefits include:

1. Expanded Coverage: Over 10 towns and villages in rural Telangana are now connected via air to Nizamabad’s medical hub, serving a population that previously lacked same-day logistics. Healthcare facilities in communities like Yedapally, Bodhan, Banswada, Armoor, and Nirmal now receive supplies on-demand, instead of waiting for infrequent truck deliveries.
2. Higher Reliability: Partner hospitals report more predictable restocking. The drone network operates daily with scheduled runs (~9 per day on average) and on-demand flights for emergencies. This has reduced stockouts and last-minute scrambles for medicines.
3. Faster Emergency Response: The 39-minute average delivery time means even urgent requests (like transporting a rare medicine or a lab sample) can be fulfilled within the hour. Doctors in remote clinics gain almost instant access to resources that would have taken half a day or required a patient transfer earlier.
4. Tech-Driven Efficiency: Droneco’s autonomous UTM system streamlines flight approvals and navigation, enabling rapid scaling of routes without manual flight planning. One Nizamabad drone hub can manage multiple routes concurrently, and the software ensures flights avoid restricted zones and conflicts automatically – a critical factor for safe BVLOS operations.
5. Cost and Resource Savings: By cutting out hours of travel, the drone service reduces the need for maintaining cold-chain trucks or paying urgent courier fees to reach rural areas. Hospitals benefit from lower effective logistics costs and can maintain leaner inventory since they know urgent supplies are just a short flight away.

One tangible example of success: a district hospital in Banswada (about 40 km from Nizamabad) used to receive weekly medical supply runs by road, often waiting 3–4 days for replenishment. With Droneco, that hospital can request supplies as needed and typically receive them the same morning. “Before Droneco, we sometimes had to refer patients to city hospitals due to medicine shortages. Now a drone brings us what we need in 40 minutes – it’s a game changer,” a local healthcare worker noted. Such improvements translate to better patient care on the ground.

Our rural hospital used to wait 3-5 days for critical medicines from the city. Now we get them in 30–40 minutes by drone. It has completely transformed our operations – no more stockouts, faster lab results, and confidence that we can handle emergencies. Droneco’s service is like an airlifted lifeline for us.
It’s not just about speed, it’s about reliability. We plan our inventory knowing Droneco has our back if anything runs low.

S. Ramesh
Logistics Manager at Armoor Area Hospital, one of Droneco’s partner facilities

Conclusion

Droneco’s medical drone delivery network in Nizamabad showcases a clear, results-focused solution to India’s rural logistics gap. By marrying cutting-edge drone technology with on-ground healthcare needs, Droneco created a strategic lifeline for remote hospitals in Telangana. The case study underlines how drone logistics can dramatically improve speed, accessibility, and scale in supply chains: deliveries that once took hours or days now arrive in minutes, critical medicines reach every corner of the region, and the network is scalable without heavy infrastructure investment.

For logistics clients and investors, the Nizamabad project provides a compelling proof of concept. Droneco demonstrated that even in areas with poor roads and dispersed populations, an innovative approach can achieve same-day connectivity at scale. The operation integrated 45+ hospitals and maintained high daily throughput, all while adhering to safety through an automated UTM system. As a result, rural healthcare providers gained the ability to serve patients faster and more efficiently, highlighting a significant operational efficiency gain and social impact.

Going forward, Droneco is expanding on this success – plans were announced to launch drone delivery routes in 21 cities by 2023 and onboard hundreds more hospitals into the network. In essence, Droneco is positioning itself not just as a drone operator, but as a transformative logistics partner for healthcare. By bridging the last-mile gap to rural India, Droneco has proven that faster, smarter delivery networks are possible even outside big cities. This case stands as a powerful example of technology delivering results: boosting rural healthcare outcomes while opening new frontiers for the logistics industry to grow and invest.

Recognized by Leadership & Covered in the Media

Hon’ble CM Sri KCR Garu’s vision of leveraging technology for the public good has been at the core of our policies.

Proud to share that Telangana is now using Drones to deliver medicines & vaccines in remote areas 🚁

#MedicineFromTheSky https://t.co/40nGdHGLTZ

September 26, 2022

— KTR (@KTRBRS)
September 26, 2022

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wjq8Vhuy4Mhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVMu-dDaIww