Tata Elxsi and Sarla Aviation Partner to Build India's First Indigenous eVTOL Aircraft

Tata Elxsi Limited and Sarla Aviation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to jointly develop 'Shunya', a six-seater plus pilot electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. The agreement was announced on Tuesday in the presence of Manoj Raghavan, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Elxsi, alongside Adrian Schmidt and Rakesh Gaonkar, Co-Founders of Sarla Aviation.

The partnership combines Tata Elxsi’s engineering capabilities in avionics, flight control systems, software integration, testing, verification, validation, and certification with Sarla Aviation’s role as the lead on the design, development, and type certification of the Shunya platform. Additionally, the collaboration may extend to sensor fusion-based navigation software, structural design, and airworthiness test support.

Shunya is designed for flight operations exceeding 300 kilometres. It combines vertical take-off and landing capabilities with fixed-wing cruise efficiency to enable runway-independent operations. The companies have targeted the aircraft’s first flight within 18 to 24 months, with certification activities expected to follow.

Both companies indicated that the partnership could eventually expand into logistics, air ambulance services, and defence-related applications.

Sarla Aviation was founded in 2023 by Schmidt and Gaonkar, who previously worked together at German eVTOL company Lilium. The Bengaluru-based startup is developing Shunya to connect Indian cities and regions with faster air travel while simultaneously building the broader operational ecosystem required to scale the service.

On the market front, Tata Elxsi shares closed at ₹3,638 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday, marking an increase of 1.66 per cent from the previous session. The stock has declined by approximately 32 per cent over the past year and carries a market capitalisation of roughly ₹22,665 crore.

"The partnership between Tata Elxsi and Sarla Aviation highlights a strategic convergence of established engineering expertise and agile startup innovation within the Indian deep-tech sector. Developing indigenous electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft addresses critical infrastructure and urban mobility challenges, while also opening new avenues in logistics and defence. Successfully meeting the 18 to 24-month target for the first flight will depend heavily on rigorous software integration, adherence to certification standards, and building a scalable operational ecosystem." — Dr. Shishir Gupta, Founder & CEO, StartupLanes