India puts civil aircraft plan back on runway.

Undeterred by the earlier failure of Saras, India has set in motion plans to build its first indigenous civilian aircraft. Saras, a locally made 14-seater plane that took over two decades to develop, is yet to win local certification.

Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), the country's sole maker of military aircraft, is forming a 50:50 special purpose vehicle with state-owned plane designer National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) to design and develop a turboprop aircraft, capable of carrying 70-10 people, by 2020.

'We are forming a SPV with a paid-up capital of Rs. 20 crore and authorised capital of Rs. 30 crore to develop the country's first locally made transport aircraft. The HAL board has already given approval for the formation of SPV and the nod from NAL board of directors is expected by the end of the month,' said a top HAL official.

The Financial Express