NAL plans design, development of 70-seater aircraft

CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories that is developing a 19-seater indigenous light transport aircraft 'Saras Mk2' has plans for a 70-seater aircraft, Union Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday.

"Today itself they have started talking to me to get the permissions from and meetings with civil aviation ministry for their future plan of the 70-seater. That is also very heartening to know," Harsh Vardhan said.

"Seventy-seater has always been in the long-term vision and since they have mentioned about this today we will have to bring the civil aviation ministry on board. We have to take the approval of the Prime Minister's office. Also, we will have to take scientists also on board, so as a science and technology minister I will facilitate them to move in the right direction," he said.

The Minister was speaking to reporters after laying the foundation for NAL's system check facility, aircraft integration facility, and the inauguration of smart aerospace composite manufacturing facility here.

NAL director Jitendra J Jadhav said since NAL has a fair amount of experience, it would start the design of 70-seater.

He said, "First, we will have to get in-principle approval from Ministry of Science and Technology, and Civil Aviation, also from Ministry of Finance, then we can finish design phase one-and-a-half year from that, which will be the preliminary design phase. Then we will submit it to the government, once the government sanctions, we will develop."