IIT Madras-based ePlane company launches 60,000 sq. ft eVTOL prototyping hub in Chennai

Homegrown electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) technology firm, The ePlane Company (Ubifly Technologies Pvt Ltd) on Thursday announced the opening of a state-of-the-art prototyping and testing facility at IIT Madras Discovery Campus in Thaiyu, on the outskirts of Chennai.

"Spanning 60,000 sq ft, the site is the country’s first integrated plant dedicated to the serial production of electric aircraft, signaling a pivotal shift in India’s Urban Air Mobility (UAM) sector from initial design concepts and subscale prototypes to flight-ready hardware and certification-grade full-scale prototyping," a statement said.

The facility, which was officially inaugurated by Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, will support key development milestones, including tethered hover testing, as the company progresses toward type certification. It houses design, prototyping, integration, and subsystem testing teams in a single location and serves as the engineering hub for the passenger, relief, and cargo eVTOLs.

The site also includes composite fabrication, electric powertrain assembly, avionics testing, and a dedicated Ground Test Vehicle (GTV) facility to support subsystem validation and full-scale development.

"The e200X is uniquely engineered for the world’s most-congested cities. While global competitors require massive landing pads, the e200X’s 8m x 10m footprint, the most-compact in the world, enables seamless rooftop-to-rooftop operations," the statement added.

"With the support of IIT Madras, we have built a space where we can fulfill our vision of making flying as common and affordable as taking a taxi,” Prof Satya Chakravarthy, Founder and Technical Lead of The ePlane Company, said.