16 Nov Drone Delivery Revolution in Ballabhgarh, Haryana
Background: Ballabhgarh – A Healthcare Bottleneck
Ballabhgarh, located in the Faridabad district of Haryana, sits on the urban-rural edge of the Delhi NCR region. With a population of over 2.5 lakh, the area is marked by:
- Densely populated urban clusters,
- Dispersed rural pockets with difficult terrain,
- Overburdened primary and community health centers.
Despite the presence of a District Hospital and a functional AIIMS-Community Outreach Center (AIIMS-COC), routine transport of vaccines, diagnostic samples, and emergency medicines to remote PHCs and CHCs faces serious challenges:
- Traffic congestion in urban areas delaying dispatch,
- Poor road access in rural pockets,
- Inconsistent cold chain maintenance during manual transport,
- Limited manpower for routine last-mile medical logistics.
The Role of AIIMS, New Delhi
AIIMS operates a Community Outreach Center in Ballabhgarh, supporting rural health services, public health research, and medical logistics. The AIIMS team has long worked on improving rural access to quality care and saw drone logistics as a potential game-changer.
They partnered with Droneco to explore if drone delivery could bridge the “last-mile” medical logistics gap — especially in time-critical and temperature-sensitive deliveries.
Project Objectives
- Reduce Medical Delivery Time
- Cut down the delivery duration of medicines, vaccines, and diagnostic samples from hours to minutes.
- Enable rapid response in emergencies, particularly for time-sensitive treatments in remote locations.
- Ensure Cold Chain Integrity
- Maintain consistent temperature control during transit of vaccines and other sensitive materials.
- Eliminate risks of spoilage and wastage due to long or unmonitored transport.
- Enable Contactless, Automated Transport
- Minimize human involvement in handling high-risk or sterile cargo.
- Ensure zero human exposure during delivery, important during outbreaks (e.g., COVID, flu).
- Demonstrate Real-time Tracking & Visibility
- Show how stakeholders (health staff, administrators) can track each flight live via the DCIS platform.
- Build trust and operational transparency across the health system.
- Integrate Drones Seamlessly with Health Systems
- Prove that drone deliveries can plug into existing healthcare workflows (inventory, dispatch, acknowledgment) without disrupting ground operations.
- Establish a Scalable, Replicable Model
- Build a proven blueprint that can be extended across other districts in Haryana and replicated in other Indian states.
- Generate Public Health Impact Data
- Provide quantifiable outcomes on speed, safety, and delivery accuracy for inclusion in AIIMS-led rural health research and policy design.
Pre-Operational Analysis
Before operations, a thorough pre-operational analysis is conducted to ensure mission success and safety. This includes site visits to assess takeoff and landing areas, conducting flight path simulations integrated with terrain elevation data, and performing a Specific Operations Risk Assessment (SORA). These steps, along with other critical evaluations, help identify potential challenges and optimize the operational workflow.
Terrain Profile
The terrain profile is a critical aspect of drone flight planning, involving the analysis of elevation changes and obstacles along the flight path to ensure safe navigation. By mapping out the terrain, potential hazards such as hills, buildings, or trees can be identified, enabling adjustments to the route for collision avoidance. Route diversions are then strategically planned to optimize the flight path, maintain operational efficiency, and ensure compliance with safety regulations.
Operational Procedure
During the initial phase of the project, trial flights were conducted using dummy payloads to ensure smooth and successful flight operations without any issues. Once the trial flights were completed successfully, regular operations commenced. The drone was then tasked with picking up medical samples from the Primary Health Centers (PHCs), such as PHC Dayalpur and PHC Chhainssa, and delivering them to the testing unit at AIIMS Ballabhgarh. After the samples were tested, the reports generated were promptly delivered back to the respective PHCs with medicines and proper medication, ensuring timely and efficient communication of results to healthcare providers.
Deployment Overview
- Operating Area: From District Hospital & AIIMS Outreach Center to 5 health nodes (3 PHCs, 2 CHCs)
- Drone Used: Adarna Mini
- Payload: 2 kg
- Range: 80 km
- Endurance: 60 min
- Control Systems: HyperPilot, DCIS, UTM
- Duration: 3 weeks pilot operation
- Flight Time per Trip: 15–20 minutes
Tech Stack Used
| Component | Function |
|---|---|
| Adarna Mini Drone | Lightweight drone with 2kg payload & 80km range for medical deliveries |
| HyperPilot | Autonomous onboard module for flight control, telemetry & health monitoring |
| UTM (Unmanned Traffic Management) | Manages flight path clearance, airspace safety & conflict avoidance |
| DCIS (Drone Cloud Intelligence System) | Real-time drone tracking, live status, mission logs & performance analytics |
What have we achieved?
Time reduction: The drone delivery system covers a distance of 9 km ( from AIIMS o PHC Dayalpur) in just 8 min compared to 30 to 40 min by road due to inadequate road infrastructure, similarly 17 km ( from AIIMS to PHC Chhanissa) in 15 min compared to 1 to 1.5 hours by road. This significant reduction enhances the speed of medical supply delivery.
Sample integrity: The system maintained the required conditions throughout the flight, preventing any compromise in sample integrity. By eliminating risks associated with temperature fluctuations, the operation ensured reliable and accurate diagnostics upon delivery.
Report Generation TAT: The turnaround time for report generation is significantly reduced, enabling quicker decision-making in critical healthcare scenarios.
Impact
- 60% Faster Deliveries: Reduced average delivery time from 45–60 minutes to 15–20 minutes.
- Zero Cold Chain Failure: Ensured reliable transport of sensitive items with verified safe temperatures.
- Saved Human Resources: Health workers could now stay at their centers instead of making trips for supply pickups.
- Improved Trust in Technology: Healthcare officials now trust the drone system as a consistent, real-time, and tamper-proof mode of delivery.
- Scalability Validated: Proven that the Droneco ecosystem (hardware + software) is ready for multi-node scale deployments across districts.
Conclusion
The Ballabhgarh pilot marks a pivotal shift in how critical medical logistics can be executed in India. By deploying Droneco’s full-stack drone delivery system—including autonomous drones, intelligent airspace management, and real-time tracking—this project successfully overcame deep-rooted challenges in rural healthcare logistics.
From reducing delivery times and preserving cold chain integrity to life-saving interventions like snakebite antivenom delivery, the pilot demonstrates that drones are not just futuristic tools—they are practical, scalable, and life-saving solutions ready for deployment today. With proven success, Droneco stands ready to replicate and expand this model across districts and states, driving India’s leap toward inclusive and resilient healthcare access.
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