India's state-owned National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) Saras 14-seat twin-turboprop multi-purpose transport aircraft has been cleared for prototype development.
A $15.27 million grant for the project's first phase, leading up to the manufacture of a prototype, was cleared by the Indian Technology Development Board .
NAL has secured two private-sector partners in the project, Taneja Aerospace and Kumran Industries, which will put in around $ 2.75 million each.
The Saras was initiated in the late 1980s as a joint venture with Russia's Myasishchev design bureau. The two partners went as far as building a full-scale mock-up before the Russians withdrew earlier this year.
Source: Flight International