As the 109-year-old commercial airline industry prepares for the first significant disruption in the form of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has committed full government support for the development of the upcoming segment.
“We are willing to become equal stakeholders with you; partners in progress in setting up what will be the seeds of a new transport revolution starting with India,” the minister told a global gathering of stakeholders at the Advanced and Short-Haul Air Mobility (ASHA) conference organised by the apex industry CII in Bengaluru Tuesday.
“Come and be a part of India. A part of the story to touch new highs in the skies,” added the minister while hard selling the Indian aviation opportunity to potential investors.
Like Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) drones, eVTOL aircraft use electric power to hover, fly and take off and land vertically. In the last few years, growing interest in exploring new vehicles for urban air mobility and advances in electric propulsion have led them to be considered a viable option. Current prototypes are available in the four-to-eight-seater configuration.
Referring to a Mackenzie study on eVTOLs, Scindia said that anywhere between 31-49 per cent of Indians were likely to undertake short-haul travel using advanced air mobility (AAM) solutions to save time.
“Imagine the market… You are talking about 650 million people, which is two times the population of the US and 1.3 times the combined population of Europe!” he said.
Building support infrastructure
However, the creation of an enabling ecosystem for eVTOLs would require a multitude of steps, including building out the right infrastructure such as vertiports to allow short landings and takeoffs, he said. He also urged dialogue with public policy as well as municipal bodies to set up the necessary support infrastructure in states.
“We also need to put in place charging systems for eVTOLs. eVTOLs must grow symbiotically with the electric car market in India. Those charging ports should be dual use, for cars as well as eVTOLs,” the minister suggested.
With the country on its way to becoming an important global manufacturing hub, he asked all stakeholders in eVTOL manufacturing to set up operations here at an early stage.
“This is a seed that will grow into a very strong and tall tree that will service not only India but also the world in the days to come,” declared the minister.
He said though the eVTOL industry might presently be in its nascency it would attain maturity over time.
“The concept of flying cars that we saw in [movies such as] Blade Runner and Star Wars while we were growing up is today a reality,” he observed.
Experts have said that India not only holds immense potential for new air transport technology but may emerge as one of its major manufacturing hubs as well.