Bengaluru-based aerospace startup Airbound is targeting five-minute drone deliveries for medicines, laboratory samples and small parcels through an autonomous drone network, with Andhra Pradesh set to become the launchpad for this ambitious expansion. According to The Times of India, the project will begin operations in Guntur before scaling up to 10,000 drone flights per day across the state over the next year. The initiative represents a significant advancement from traditional drone delivery timelines, with Airbound's technology designed to move medicine, lab samples, and small packages faster than scooters in traffic. The company has already completed more than 700 medical delivery flights between clinics and laboratories and plans to scale operations to the targeted daily capacity across Andhra Pradesh.
The partnership leverages Airbound's blended-wing-body tailsitter aircraft, built from lightweight carbon fibre and weighing just 1.5 kg. This TRT offers a payload ratio of 1.5:1, compared with the industry standard of 4:1, making it one of the most efficient logistics platforms available. According to The Times of India, the aircraft can travel up to 25 miles at speeds of about 40 mph, enabling fast, reliable and affordable access across wide geographies. The technology can deliver goods at costs as much as 20 times lower than conventional methods, supporting a point-to-point delivery model that aims to change the physics of goods movement. The MoU is expected to support faster movement of healthcare supplies, commercial goods, and critical deliveries, while helping improve mid-mile connectivity and operational efficiency across urban and semi-urban regions.
Bengaluru-based aerospace company Airbound has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Andhra Pradesh Drone Corporation (APDC) to develop a scalable drone delivery network across the Amaravati Capital Region. The MoU was signed by Geetanjali Sharma, Managing Director and Chairman, APDC and Naman Pushp, Founder & CEO, Airbound in the presence of Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation in New Delhi. This collaboration represents a significant step towards building aerial logistics infrastructure in India, with the initiative expected to begin with operations in Guntur and target 10,000 daily drone flights across Andhra Pradesh over the coming year. As part of the proposed Amaravati Capital Region Drone Delivery Network (ACR DDN), the network will connect Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur through drone operations across healthcare, logistics and e-commerce sectors, with the initiative expected to commence with operations in Guntur before being scaled up across the state.
Geetanjali Sharma, Managing Director and Chairman of Andhra Pradesh Drone Corporation, emphasized that the MoU establishes foundations for a new logistics architecture in Andhra Pradesh. She stated that Airbound's technology combined with advanced infrastructure will ensure residents and businesses across the targeted cities experience drone-enabled services early. Ram Mohan Naidu, Union Minister of Civil Aviation, highlighted that the partnership demonstrates India's capability in next-generation aviation and showcases how cutting-edge technology can be designed, built and scaled domestically. He noted that by partnering with a home-grown company to build one of the world's largest drone delivery networks, Andhra Pradesh is demonstrating that cutting-edge technology can be designed, built, and scaled in India delivering real connectivity, jobs, and growth for our people. The project is also expected to attract investment and create jobs in Andhra Pradesh's drone sector, supporting the state's efforts to develop drone-enabled logistics infrastructure and expand the use of unmanned aircraft in healthcare, logistics and e-commerce.
Airbound's CEO Naman Pushp described the initiative as changing the physics of goods movement, aiming to build a network where drones move single packages point-to-point with the efficiency of a 20-ton truck. The phased rollout will include pilot operations, route mapping, ecosystem partnerships, regulatory coordination and gradual development of interconnected drone corridors across the Amaravati Capital Region. The CEO said the partnership seeks to transform logistics by building a shared drone delivery infrastructure where drones move individual packages directly between destinations, making Amaravati, Vijayawada and Guntur a model for scalable aerial logistics that could be replicated across the country. The collaboration reflects Andhra Pradesh's growing ambition to emerge as the global hub for drone led innovation and advanced logistics, with the goal of making Andhra Pradesh one of the best places in the world to build, test, and scale the future of logistics.
The MoU is expected to create opportunities for investment, ecosystem development, employment generation, and innovation in the state's emerging drone economy. Airbound has previously completed more than 10,000 flights in total and undertaken healthcare delivery operations with Narayana Health in Bengaluru, completing more than 1,000 flights to support medical logistics. The partnership demonstrates India's trajectory in next-generation aviation and showcases how cutting-edge technology can be designed, built, and scaled domestically, delivering real connectivity, jobs, and growth for the region. The collaboration is expected to improve mid-mile connectivity and operational efficiency across urban and semi-urban regions while creating investment opportunities, fostering ecosystem development, generating employment and accelerating innovation in Andhra Pradesh's emerging drone economy.
