BS READS: Inside story of Plane X, India's dead civilian aircraft project

An ambitious Rs 7,555-crore project to develop an indigenous civilian aircraft failed because of scared investors, bureaucratic hurdles and dithering governments

In its first five-year term, the Narendra Modi government embraced many programmes and projects launched by predecessor Manmohan Singh’s regime. Some – like the one to provide biometric-based unique identity to all citizens, the employment guarantee programme, and the right to education – were implemented with greater gusto. But not all schemes of the Singh government were so fortunate. The Rs 7,555-crore project to develop an indigenous civilian aircraft was among the unfortunate ones. How and why this project, mooted by the Singh government, was dropped by the Modi regime without much ado, is a fascinating story of officialdom and