Speaking at the inauguration of Sarla Aviation‘s new headquarters in Bengaluru, Naidu said electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft could offer a new mobility option for congested metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi.
“By 2028, we want to see these machines fly in India. There is a huge requirement, not only in Bangalore, but Mumbai and Delhi,” Naidu said.
The minister said he expects Sarla Aviation to move fully into the testing phase next year, while the Ministry of Civil Aviation and aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) will continue working with the industry on testing, safety and regulations.
Naidu also said DGCA has granted Design Organisation Approval to Sarla Aviation, marking a regulatory step in the company’s development of its eVTOL aircraft.
“I expect that next year we’ll completely be in the testing phase,” he said, adding, “By 2028, we plan to make this happen.”
Sarla Aviation co-founder and CEO Adrian Schmidt said the company’s aircraft combines elements of a drone, helicopter and conventional aircraft and belongs to a new category of aircraft classified by regulators as powered-lift.
The aircraft is being designed to carry six passengers along with a pilot and will use seven electric motors – six to provide vertical lift and another at the rear for forward propulsion.
“It’s powered by six electric motors that lift it up and one in the rear that pushes it forward. So we have a total of seven electric motors that we’re using and it’s piloted as of now with six passengers,” Schmidt told ANI.
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He said the aircraft’s propulsion system will remain electric, while the design has enough space for the company to consider adding a turbo-generator that could recharge its batteries during flight.
“We have enough space allocation so that we can consider putting in a turbo generator to charge our batteries mid-flight. But the energy transition from the battery to the motors is always going to be purely electric,” Schmidt said.
The Bengaluru-based startup is backed by venture capital firm Accel and Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath. Its investors also include Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal, Swiggy co-founder Sriharsha Majety, Urban Company co-founder Abhiraj Singh Bhal, Tracxn co-founder Abhishek Goyal, Livspace co-founder Ramakant Sharma and Udaan co-founder Sujeet Kumar, among others. IndiGo Ventures has also invested in the company.
Schmidt said several companies globally are working on similar aircraft, including in the US and Europe, while Sarla Aviation wants to develop the technology in India.
Meanwhile, Naidu said affordability would be as important as safety in determining whether air taxis can become commercially viable in India. He said localisation could help lower costs, with the aircraft’s parts, barring avionics, being manufactured in the country.
The minister said eVTOL aircraft could reduce airport-to-city travel times in congested metropolitan areas to around 20-30 minutes from as much as two hours currently, while also finding applications in medical evacuation, air ambulances and cargo transportation.
He said Bengaluru airport has an agreement with Sarla Aviation for last-mile connectivity between the airport and the city, while Manipal Hospitals has also signed an agreement with the company for potential air ambulance services.
Naidu said the technology could eventually help India develop an export market for domestically manufactured eVTOL aircraft, alongside its role in improving urban and last-mile connectivity.