According to NAL director A R Upadhya, the Bangalore- based nodal centre executing the RTA project, is looking for partners both from India and abroad.
"The Centre has given its nod to design a framework for the joint venture for carrying out the RTA project through a public-private-partnership mode. We have already drafted an EoI, which will be issued in a month’s time. The JV will be for design, development and manufacture of the RTAs," Upadhya said on the sidelines of the Aviation Conclave 2010, which concluded here today.
India’s ambitious civil aviation program (RTA-70) estimated to cost about Rs 5,000 crore, is aimed at building planes for carrying 70-100 passengers on short-haul flights like ATR, which currently dominates the country’s skies.
He also said that it would take around seven years to roll out the first aircraft after receiving the government approval.He said they were setting up a design bureau at NAL with 100 people, including those from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (NAL).
"When it comes to the engine for the RTA, we are looking at both optimised turboprop (turbo propeller) and optimised turbofan," Upadhya said, adding the project required an investment of Rs 5,000 crore towards design and development costs and prototypes.
He said the aim of RTA is to have at least 25 per cent reduction in operational costs. Meanwhile, he pointed out that presently only 70 of the 450 odd airfields in the country were operational.
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