India plans to develop its own regional aircraft

Last week the Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh held a meeting of the the High Level Committee on Manufacturing (HLCM) in order to discuss strategic goals of several industries, including civilian aircraft manufacturing, electric and hybrid vehicles as well as advanced materials and composites. During the meeting, the PM approved the initiative to develop a new civil Aircraft with 70-100 seat capacity.

According to the statement, Civilian Aircraft Industry is a strategic sector where the Indian Government feels a need to have a presence in the long term perspective, particularly in view of the rapid growth of the national aviation market.

The HLCM took a major strategic decision for the development of a civilian aircraft, of a 70-100 seater range to begin with, in India. The idea is to house the development and production in an SPV that would be created for this purpose,“ said in the statement of the PM‘s Office.

The development of the new Aircraft is planned to be based on Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), a stated-owned aerospace company mainly engaged in military and general Aircraft manufacturing, and National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a research and development Agency. The Government also plans to offer private sector firms as well as foreign companies to contribute to the project.