India's first indigenous civil aircraft SARAS, designed and developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), is likely to be put into commercial production by 2008. |
This scenario emerged after the successful inaugural flight took place in Bangalore on Sunday. |
The light transport aircraft, with rear mounted twin turboprop engines, has been built over a period of five years, costing Rs 158 crore with 70 per cent indigenisation. |
SARAS is capable of carrying 14 people at a maximum speed of 550 km at a cruise altitude of 7.4 km. NAL, after successful inaugural flight has to test fly its second prototype which is expected to take place during the course of next year. |
Between the two prototypes, about 500 hours of flight-testing is planned for obtaining DGCA certification as per the FAR-25 (Federal Aviation Regulations of the US) standards. This is likely to take about 24-30 months time from now, as each and every aspect has to be thoroughly checked from the points of view of both aircraft safety and performance. |
In the current avatar, the aircraft weighs nearly 800 kg more than the design specification of 6,100 kg. |
Speaking to the media after the flight, Kapil Sibal, minister of state for Science and technology and ocean development, said: "We are proud of this aircraft which is our flight into the future. It is true that the craft weighs more than the design specification. During the course of regular development we intend to shave this off considerably so that it meets global standards." |
He further added that Indian Air Force has shown keen interest in buying six aircraft and has also indicated that it will be adding 10 more SARASs at a later stage. |
HAL is expected to take up the full-scale production of SARAS, in addition to other private agencies. Sibal said in commercial production, SARAS is expected to cost between Rs 30-33 crore. "However, if the volumes increase, the cost of production might come down further," he added. |
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) under whose ambit NAL operates, is thinking of establishing a special purpose vehicle involving CSIR, HAL and private industry to co-ordinate and manage the limited series production of the six aircraft to be delivered to IAF. The engines are from Pratt & Whitney and plans are afoot to upgrade them during the course of production. |
Sibal also added that there is potential in the design of the aircraft to build a 19-seater plane under the existing framework. |
The minister added that when SARAS completes all aspects of certification and gets into production, it will be an appropriate aircraft for building air bridges between cities and small towns and between different small towns themselves through an extensive feeder airline operation. This is particularly relevant for a vast country like India. |
"Such an operation can be a major factor in boosting the economy of the country, in connecting people, in moving perishable goods from hinterland to major airports, in emergency medical treatment, guarding our long coast line and in a variety of other roles. Several market surveys conducted by NAL indicate that there is a requirement of around 150 aircraft of the SARAS class over the next 10-15 years. Thus SARAS can act as a catalyst for establishing a viable civil aircraft industry in the country, as has happened in countries like Brazil," noted Sibal. |