We are keen to promote India as a major eVTOL manufacturing hub: Scindia

After putting in place an enabling ecosystem for the local drone industry, India is keen to have the Electronic Vertical Take Off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturers use the country as a major manufacturing base once all regulatory approvals are in and commercial production starts.

“The next technology paradigm that is going to happen not in one year, two years but once European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approve eVTOL vehicles. That industry must also make its core base in India. And that is one of the things that I am exploring,” minister of civil aviation, Jyotiraditya Scindia noted at the recently concluded Business Today’s India@100 summit in New Delhi.

EASA and FAA are the aviation regulators of the EU and the US, respectively. As per the laid down procedures, the aircraft will be certified once the proof of concept is ready.

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 six-to-eight-seater configuration.

Elaborating on how the government’s initiatives have helped in kickstarting the local drone industry, Scindia said that schemes such as Productivity Linked Incentive (PLI) had resulted in 23 selected beneficiary companies significantly increasing their base turnover from Rs 88 crore to Rs 319 crore in YoY comparison.

Furthermore, the Ministry of Civil Aviation’s efforts at creating demand for the utilisation of drones across 12-line ministries had resulted in their finding applications in diverse industries such as agriculture, power, survey and mining.

“I firmly believe that government’s role is that of a seminary in terms of promoting new technologies and industries that are coming about. So, certainly the government has a role and an extremely important role in terms of spawning new technologies and new areas in India,” said Scindia.

Currently, over 200 companies, including Airbus, Boeing, Embraer and Honda, are estimated to be engaged in developing eVTOLs worldwide. During a visit to the US and Canada earlier this year, Scindia had invited North American eVTOL manufacturers to also explore the potential of the Indian market for the technology.

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