India's aviation sector is booming with over 10 crore passengers flying every year. To keep up with the demand, India needs at least 30,000 new pilots in the next few years.
India's pilots are currently trained in foreign planes. However, today a new Indian bird has come into the market, namely Hansa Next Generation trainer plane, developed by the National Aerospace Laboratories which will help in training pilots.
Science Minister Jitendra Singh and Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu announced a new private sector partnership between Pioneer Clean Amps Pvt Ltd, Mumbai, which makes about 110 of these planes.
Civil Aviation Minister K Ramomohan Naidu said 10 crore passengers are flying every year with just 840 aircraft, and the aviation industry has ordered another 1,700 planes. To service them, some 30,000 new pilots will be required. Hansa NG offers a domestic solution to this booming sector, he added, especially because very soon India will have 300 airports from today's 159.
"Hansa NG is a world class plane with a Make in India welcome twist," Mr Naidu said.
Hansa NG is an indigenous two-seater trainer aircraft, made by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories in Bengaluru. It costs about Rs 2 crore less than half of the imported planes. Hansa NG could help fulfil Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of "hawai chappal to hawai udan."
Abhay A Pashilkar, Director, CSIR-NAL, told NDTV, "Hansa NG is the first aircraft designed and produced in India."
CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), a constituent of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), under the aegis of the Science and Technology Minister, indigenously designed and developed HANSA-3 (NG) trainer aircraft for commercial pilot licensing (CPL).
The aircraft offers a digital display (glass cockpit) system and is powered by an advanced fuel-efficient Rotax 912 iSc3 Sports engine, bubble canopy with a cabin width of 43 inches. It is equipped with electrically operated flaps to meet the user's requirements. It offers excellent aircraft performance with a higher range of 620 nautical miles, 7 hours endurance, and a maximum cruise speed of 98 knots calibrated airspeed (KCAS).
Jitendra Singh said the aircraft can also be used for surveillance purposes and environmental monitoring. In fact, NAL is also making an all-electric version of the Hansa plane in view of the concerns of climate change.
CSIR-NAL has embarked upon the design and development of the Electric-HANSA (E-HANSA).
N Kalaiselvi, Secretary, DSIR and Director General, CSIR complementing the scientists said the successful flying demonstration of HANSA-3(NG) at the recent Aero India 2025 shows the commitment of CSIR towards the national need of developing indigenous technologies to the end customers like Flying Training Organizations (FTOs) to ensure a complete ecosystem for successful commercialization of CSIR technologies.
"To meet the domestic demand as well as export potential, CSIR NAL has teamed up with the industry partner Pioneer Clean Amps Pvt Ltd., Mumbai, who will aim to set up its manufacturing facility to build about 36 aircraft per year, and gradually upscale to 72 aircraft per year, furthering the aims and objectives of Atmanirbhar Bharat," she said.
Jitendra Singh praised the efforts of scientists for the successful demonstration and commercialization of the indigenous HANSA-3(NG) with the industry partner Pioneer Clean Amps Pvt Ltd.
He said the aircraft will satisfy the requirements of flying clubs for obtaining PPL (Private Pilot License) and CPL (Commercial Pilot License) for the young generation.
The minister said there is a need to develop a large and world-class flying training ecosystem in the country to meet the Indian aviation sector's rapidly growing demand.
The availability of CSIR's indigenous HANSA-3(NG) aircraft will make India's aviation industry robust and to realise PM Modi's vision of India becoming a leading aviation hub by the end of the decade and Viksit Bharat by 2047.
He said the indigenous small aircraft manufacturing under Atmanirbhar Bharat will further support the development of infrastructure and small and medium-scale private entrepreneurs for production of airworthy components, including assembly and integration of aircraft in the country.
Further, it will help to create employment opportunities with on-the-job training for ITI and diploma holders in various disciplines of aircraft building and AME training.
The Hansa-3(NG) aircraft would be an affordable and appreciable trainer aircraft for the young generation of pilots.
CSIR-NAL has been in the forefront of designing indigenous civil aircraft in the country. The all composite two-seater HANSA-3 ab-initio trainer aircraft was certified in 2000. Subsequently, CSIR in partnership with M/s Mahindra developed a 5-seater CNM-5 aircraft and flew it successfully. HANSA-NG (i.e., Next Generation) was certified in 2023 having advanced glass cockpit, bubble canopy and improved fuel efficiency comparable to the best in the world.
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