The establishment of many technical committees by the aviation ministry has initiated the urban air mobility project, paving the way for the long-planned launch of India’s first air taxi by 2026.
Narendra Modi, who most pollsters believe will return to power in a big way tomorrow, has shown a great deal of interest in the initiative.
According to a June 3 ToI story, the DGCA-established committees will determine the path for the country’s air taxi rollout by 2026, beginning with Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bengaluru. Later on, there are plans to extend to places like Hyderabad and Chennai.
InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE), the parent company of IndiGo, will start building the required infrastructure in partnership with the American air taxi maker Archer Aviation as soon as India sets standards for different aspects of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
India will be ahead of the curve in terms of regulatory readiness for eVTOL services for urban air mobility, according to the article, which cited sources.
Regarding the program’s implementation in India, an Archer team has already visited with aviation officials there. For this project, InterGlobe Enterprises (IGE) communicates with the regulator regularly. Rahul Bhatia, the head of IGE, has ordered 200 Midnight air taxis from Archer, which will cost about $1 billion. Next year, Archer plans to launch operations in the United States, initially in New York and Chicago. After this, they intend to launch air taxis in the United Arab Emirates and India.
