Civil Aviation Minister stresses need for development of indigenous civil aircraft

Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu, Minster for Civil Aviation, in the cockpit of NAL’s indigenous trainer aircraft Hansa-3 (NG) in Bengaluru on Monday.
| Photo Credit: special arrangement

Minister for Civil Aviation Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu on Monday stressed the need for the development of indigenous civil aircraft.

Mr. Naidu who visited the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) emphasised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of India to become a leading aviation hub by 2047.

He lauded the contributions of NAL in the development of two-seater indigenous trainer aircraft Hansa-3 (NG), the Saras MK-2 light transport aircraft that is under development, and the significant progress made in the project definition phase of the Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA) programme.

He said that the Ministry of Civil Aviation has plans to increase the number of flight training organisations (FTO) from 37 to 80.

To boost local manufacturing and promote homegrown aircraft and technologies the government has already reduced the customs tax to 5% for aircraft parts and is contemplating extending the same to imported raw materials.

He also praised NAL’s quick response to the Ministry’s initiatives on the development of eVTOL aircraft, urban air taxi to meet the demands of current day requirement.