NAL completes feasibility study for Regional Transport Aircraft
14 Jun 2011
Bangalore: India's Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) have completed the feasibility study on the design and development of the Regional Transport Aircraft (RTA). Addressing the media at NAL campus here on Friday, Union minister for science and technology, Ashwani Kumar, said that the cost of the project was being estimated at Rs7,555 crore.
Providing the break up, Kumar said while the design and development phase would cost Rs4,355 crore, the series production phase would cost Rs3,200 crore.
Kumar stressed that there would be no financial constraints for a project of this nature. "The Government of India fully supports such programmes, irrespective of the financial demands," he said.
The RTA will have a passenger capacity of 70-100 seats.
The development phase is expected to be completed in six years with certification, with first batch of five aircrafts in seven years after the launch.
Since the project has been launched late, Kumar said NAL would try and make up for the time lost.
The RTA would be sought to be inducted into the Indian aviation sector.
According to NAL director, AR Upadhyay, the aircraft would incorporate the latest in technology.