New Delhi/Varanasi, The Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) of the Union government and Invest India, India's national investment promotion agency, have collaborated through the AGNI Mission and Invest India's Business Immunity Platform (BIP) to disinfect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency of Varanasi through specially designed drones that have been pressed into action to support Covid-19 disinfection in the holy city.

"The government's Covid-19 strategies align with global best practices: protecting Indians against Covid-19, by minimising their chances of catching it. To boost local authority capacities in achieving this, the government is leveraging the power of technology," said a government statement.

Using drones, authorities could spray disinfectant over large, crowded, vulnerable urban areas, protecting city-dwellers from Covid-19, while reducing human contact to keep frontline workers safe.

Helping Garuda Aerospace, a Chennai-based drone startup, respond to Varanasi's interest in such disinfection: the team worked with central, state, and local government authorities to help get Garuda's technologies and personnel to Varanasi. The team monitored and supported every step of this exercise: helping the government and innovator collaborate to fight Covid-19 together.

Drone operations in Varanasi have just started. The team will now extend similar capabilities to more cities across India, said the government on Thursday.

This forms part of a wider effort to use innovative technology, through government-innovator collaboration, to reinforce Indian authorities' fight against Covid-19.