Skye Air has set up two hubs in Sector 30 and Sector 71, where e-commerce and quick commerce companies send packages for delivery
Drones are becoming a common sight in several apartment complexes in Gurugram, delivering essentials like groceries, medicines, meals, and packages directly to residents’ doorsteps. What once seemed like science fiction is now part of everyday life, with residents praising the timely deliveries.
“Drones make about 40 flights to our apartment complex daily, delivering over 100 packages and reducing delivery vehicles’ traffic. These packages by air are now integral to our daily lives, handling many quick commerce and other deliveries,” said Nilesh Tandon, RWA president.
Drones have been used for various purposes, including aerial photography, agriculture, surveillance, and medical supply delivery. Now, more drone companies are exploring urban logistics. The Fresco society last year partnered with Skye Air, a Gurugram-based drone delivery company, to trial drone deliveries, becoming the first apartment complex in the country to do so.
“Drone delivery is the future of urban logistics. They are fast, efficient, sustainable, and help eliminate carbon emissions and road congestion. Besides, they will boost last-mile delivery in cities,” said Ankit Kumar, founder and CEO of Skye Air. “Currently, we deliver about 1,000 packages every day to about 10 housing societies in Gurugram.”
Skye Air has set up two hubs in Sector 30 and Sector 71, where e-commerce and quick commerce companies send packages for delivery. Packages are sorted at the hubs and loaded onto drones, which then deliver them to pods installed in housing societies. From there, a “sky walker” picks up the packages and delivers them to individual apartments.
Noida-based TSAW Drones is also expanding its intercity operations. The company recently partnered with Gurugram-based CABT Logistics to enhance express logistics in Kolkata and is setting up 136 drone hubs across the country to enable deliveries in 24 cities.
“We currently have 27 drones in operation and 19 hubs in cities such as Noida, Meerut, Agra, Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, and Nizamabad. We are creating a hub-and-spoke model to connect small towns to bigger cities. Currently, we make about 75 flights a day between hubs, each flight covering a distance of about 70km and carrying 8 kg,” said Kishan Tiwari, CEO and founder of TSAW Drones. The company uses VTOL (vertical take-off and landing) drones for these intercity flights.
Tiwari noted that around 90% of India lacks same-day delivery connectivity, especially in tier-2 and tier-3 cities. “Road shipping costs rise when trucks aren’t fully loaded, making partial deliveries to these areas very expensive. Drone delivery, costing about ₹4 per km, is crucial here — for instance, Noida to Meerut costs about ₹1,200. Also, the drones can also take care of severe manpower shortages in the logistics industry,” he said.
“Our long-range, heavy-payload drones are 20 times faster and 2.5 times cheaper than traditional methods, slashing carbon emissions by 98%. Flying at 120 km/h, they deliver within 30 minutes, consolidating multiple parcels per flight with a 5 kg capacity,” said Tiwari.
The drone industry in India has gained significant momentum with the introduction of the Drone Rules 2021, which established a more liberalized regime for UAVs. These new rules eliminated several requirements and approvals, simplifying operations for civilian drone operators. The government also introduced a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, offering ₹120 crore over three years to position India as a global drone hub by 2030.
