Maharashtra's dream of setting up an aircraft manufacturing company may become a reality soon, and it will be the first in the country.
A man who builds aircraft on the roof of his house will help the government set up an indigenous factory for manufacturing 20-seater aircraft.
The government of Maharashtra on Monday signed a Rs 35,000-crore deal with the company Thrust Aircraft Pvt Ltd, promoted by commercial pilot Amol Yadav, who made news after constructing a small airplane on his building terrace and displaying it at the Make in India event in Mumbai in 2016.
The Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) and Amol Yadav's Thrust Aircraft Pvt Ltd, India, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the ongoing "Magnetic Maharashtra" global investors summit in the presence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to set up a plant to build small aircraft and develop the Palghar district as a new aviation hub .
The project will be spread over 157 acres of land in Palghar, which is situated around 120 km from Mumbai. The MoU will lead to the generation of around 10,000 jobs in the project, reported news agency PTI.
"Fadnavis wants the first plane-making factory of the country to be in Maharashtra. The MIDC will provide us land and support facilities like roads," PTI quoted Yadav as saying.
The government had already announced that the company of the 41-year-old, who is currently working as a deputy chief pilot with Jet Airways, would be allotted around 155 acres of land in Palghar to implement the project as part of the "Make In India" initiative.
Amol Yadav got the certificate of registration for the aircraft he assembled on the rooftop from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in 2017. The airplane is yet to be tested.
Amol's six-seater drew attention during the Make In India exhibition held in Mumbai in 2016.
The registration number of the aircraft is VT-NMD, which represents the initials of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Fadnavis.
