Association with NAL 'development partnership' only: Mahindra

The Mahindra group today said their association with National Aeronautics Laboratory (NAL) was a "development partnership" and was confined to produce five-seater aircraft only.

A company spokesperson said the components business and the other aircraft programmes were "completely outside" their relationship with NAL.

On the Mahindra Group acquiring Australian Companies GippsAero and Aerostaff, he said the total investments were of the order of Rs 175 crore spread over a period of many years.

The deal was closed last year in June, he added.

As per the agreement, Mahindra would retain the existing managements of GippsAero and Aerostaff Australia, securing the services of the founders who had developed this technology.

Mahindra Aerospace has planned to manufacture utility aircrafts with seating capacity of five, eight, ten and 18.

The company's Chief Technology Officer Karthik Krishnamurthy had recently said the aircrafts would be used for tourism, cargo and adventure sport than as commercial aircraft.

The prototype of the five-seater aircraft, expected to be released shortly, would be jointly developed by Mahindra along with National Aeronautics Laboratory, which is a first in public-private partnership.