Bengaluru and Mumbai: Seven years after the project first took shape in an IIT Madras laboratory, India now has its own electric air-taxi prototype. Backed by $20 million in funding, the venture is among the half-dozen-odd companies globally at the forefront of a technology that could reshape urban mobility.
Last week, Chennai-based ePlane Company, operated by Ubifly Technologies Pvt Ltd (UTPL), unveiled a 2,000-kg aircraft that takes off like a helicopter, carries one pilot and two passengers, and flies 100 km on a single charge. It is expected to cost no more than two-and-a-half times an Uber fare when it starts operations in 2028.
"It is our conviction that it is fewer than a dozen companies we are grouped with, perhaps half-a-dozen," said Satya Chakravarthy, co-founder, chief technology officer, and a professor at IIT Madras.
EHang in China is certified only for “autonomous loops” or pre-programmed flight trips over a single tourist site, said Chakravarthy, while California-based Joby Aviation started flying certification tests under US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules last November. A second California-headquartered air taxi firm, Archer Aviation, expects to begin operations later this year, under the US Government’s Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing (eVTOL) Program.
At 8 by 11 metres, roughly the size of half a badminton court, ePlane Company's product claims to be the most compact air taxi of its kind in the world. The start-up expects to complete flight testing through the end of 2027 and begin operations in 2028.
"We are not creating the next brand of ice cream," Aditya Ghosh, board member of ePlane Company said, adding that ePlane's segment is compact urban mobility on a single charge, and that focus dictates what it refuses to build. "We are not going to be the 400 or 500 km range vehicle," Ghosh said. "In business, as in life, it is important to know what not to do."
Chakravarthy and Ghosh, two of the four-member board of the company, have an unusual pairing: a technologist and an airline operator. The former describes himself as the tech builder, while Ghosh, the former IndiGo and OYO chief and co-founder of Akasa Air, sits on the startup’s board through his investment entity, Homage.
"This has nothing to do with Akasa. Zero," said Ghosh, listing his other interests, from a London restaurant to an early stake in Blue Tokai coffee through Homage.
Ghosh owns 0.56% in ePlane Company, while Chakravarthy owns 30%, according to the privately held company’s shareholding pattern at the end of March 2025, filed with the corporate affairs ministry. Speciale Invest, a Bengaluru-based venture capital firm, is the second-largest shareholder, with a nearly 14% stake. Infosys Ltd co-founder S.D. Shibulal’s son, Shreyas Shibulal, owns 4.65%, and IITM Incubation Cell owns 2.54%. More than five dozen wealthy investors and a few funds own the remaining shares.
"The reason we go for pilot plus two is the ambulance variant, which needs the patient and a paramedic alongside the pilot," said Chakravarthy.
So, is all of this enough for ePlane Company, which was set up in 2019, to succeed?
“For ePlane to succeed, it must avoid the pitfalls that affected several global eVTOL startups,” said Jitamitra Desai, a professor at Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. He said the startup’s success will depend on focusing on “niche markets first (air ambulance, airport connectivity, defence, industrial logistics) rather than mass-market air taxis.”
Desai said electric air taxis such as those of ePlane need strategic partnerships with hospitals, airport operators, logistics firms, and state governments.
"An eVTOL air ambulance in Bengaluru doesn't need to compete with a ₹2,000 road ambulance; it competes with critical survival situations and ₹3 lakh helicopter evacuations. At around ₹30,000 per mission, it occupies an economically viable middle ground, while reducing response times from over an hour to under 15 minutes," he said.
Chakravarthy credits ePlane's “lift-plus-cruise architecture, with single-engine-failure tolerance and dual powertrain lines”, rather than the tilt-rotor designs favoured in the West.
Put simply, many foreign flying taxis have swiveling rotors and moving parts that can jam the system. ePlane keeps all its propellers fixed and uses many small motors, so if one fails, the others keep the aircraft flying safely.
“Many global eVTOL firms have raised $500 million–$2 billion before commercialization,” said Desai, highlighting sufficient capital as a requisite.
ePlane Company plans to close a $17 million investment tranche this month, followed by another $13-odd million, bringing its new funding to $30 million. This, Chakravarthy said, is important because the government will also match this $30 million investment through its Research, Development and Innovation Fund.
In April 2024, Archer Aviation signed a deal with airline IndiGo’s promoter, InterGlobe Aviation, to supply 200 air taxis for city-to-airport commute. Separately, IndiGo, through its corporate venture arm, acquired a minority stake in Sarla Aviation Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based electric air-taxi startup.
“Strong manufacturing economics using India’s lower engineering and production costs, potentially reducing aircraft costs by 20–40% compared with Western competitors,” said Desai.
The winner is unlikely to be the one with the best aircraft, "but the one that combines certification, affordable manufacturing, reliable operations, and a viable business model," he added.