Over a month after announcing its plans to enter the freight air transportation services sector, Delhivery has received approval from the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to incorporate its drone subsidiary.
The logistics unicorn informed the markets through a regulatory filing that the ministry approved the incorporation of the wholly-owned subsidiary, Delhivery Robotics India Private Limited, on July 3.
In May, Delhivery revealed that the new entity would offer Drone as a Service (DaaS) for shipment movement and remote sensing.
The subsidiary will also be involved in manufacturing, producing, and selling unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) globally.
For these purposes, Delhivery plans to outsource the manufacturing and procurement of composite airframe components, as well as quality testing and flight trials.
Delhivery Robotics India Private Limited will have an authorised share capital of INR 5 Cr.
The company first announced its plans to enter the drone segment during its earnings call in February 2023. At that time, cofounder and CEO Sahil Barua stated that the transition into aerial deliveries would be led by its portfolio company, Transition Robotics, which had developed a fixed-wing drone capable of carrying a 4 kg payload for a distance of 40 km.
The announcement comes as Delhivery reported a consolidated net loss of INR 68.5 Cr for the March quarter (Q4) of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a significant drop from the consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of INR 11.7 Cr in the preceding quarter.
Operating revenue also fell 5% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) to INR 2,075.5 Cr from INR 2,194.5 Cr in Q3.
With the new entity, Delhivery aims to capitalize on the growing drone market in India. According to EY and FICCI report, the Indian drone industry is expected to grow from a value of ₹2,900 crore in 2020, to ₹81,600 crore in 2025. Further, the industry is expected to reach ₹2.95 lakh crore by 2030!
