India developing first civilian aircraft

New Delhi: India is developing its first civilian aircraft, which would be a 70 to 90-seater plane catering to the regional aviation market, and a feasibility study is currently on, a top scientist said today.
"We are looking at creating a Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) which would be 70 or a 90-seater. The feasibility study is being carried out now," M R Nayak, advisor and chief scientist at the state-owned National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) said here.
A high-powered committee headed by former Chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) G Madhavan Nair has already been set up to guide the project.
He said the aircraft would be developed through the public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Besides NAL which is the nodal agency for the project, the public sector firms participating in the project are HAL, DRDO, ISRP, BEL and ADA, while those in the private sector included HCL, QUEST, Infosys, Mahindras, L&T and Tata Group.
Nayak was speaking at a meeting of Indo-US aviation manufacturers, where Boeing India, president, Dinesh Keskar said the growing aviation market in the country had greatly enhanced the opportunities for businesses of both countries to collaborate in such projects.
Keskar said India would require 1,150 civilian planes, worth $130 billion, over the next two decades, and another $30 billion worth of military aircraft, missiles and other aerospace equipment.
26/04/11 PTI/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Indian Aviation- In General Apr 2011, New Apr 2011