Archive · 10 Aug 2026
Sarla Aviation Secures DGCA Design Approval for Electric Air Taxis
Sarla Aviation is a company in Bengaluru, India, that is building flying taxis.
These taxis are like small helicopters, but they run on electricity.
India's aviation safety regulator, called the DGCA, approved the company's designs.
This approval, called Design Organisation Approval, is a big step toward making the flying taxis real.
The company has already done more than 500 test flights using a smaller version of the taxi named Sylla.
It has also shown a full-size model called Shunya.
India's Union Minister for Civil Aviation, K Rammohan Naidu, gave the approval and said he hopes flying taxis will be common in India within two years.
He wants the taxis to fly everywhere in the country, not just in big cities.
The company is working with hospitals and other partners and plans to build a new prototype in January 2027.
Bengaluru-based Sarla Aviation received Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from India's aviation regulator, the DGCA, for its indigenous eVTOL electric air taxis.
Union Minister for Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu handed over the DOA on August 8 at the inauguration of Sarla Aviation's new Bengaluru headquarters.
Sarla Aviation announced partnerships with Manipal Hospitals, Aeromed Air Ambulance, Prestige Group, Jio-bp, Jeppesen Foreflight, Hexel Composites, and Tata Elxsi.
The company has completed more than 500 flight tests and 18 hours of flight testing with its half-scale demonstrator Sylla and unveiled the full-scale prototype Shunya.
Minister Naidu said he expects India's electric air taxi ecosystem to flourish within two years and stressed the service should be accessible across the country.
- Who
- Sarla Aviation, a Bengaluru-based startup, and Union Minister for Civil Aviation K Rammohan Naidu, who presented the approval on behalf of the DGCA.
- What
- The DGCA's Design Organisation Approval for Sarla Aviation's indigenous eVTOL electric air taxis, allowing the company to move toward type certification and commercial production.
- When
- On August 8, at the inauguration of the company's new headquarters.
- Where
- Bengaluru, India.
- Why
- To enable commercial production of electric air taxis and advance indigenous aerospace design capability in India.
- Startup
- Sarla Aviation
- Approval
- Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the DGCA under CAR 21 Subpart J
- Headquarters
- Bengaluru, India
- Founded
- October 2023
- Founders
- Adrian Schmidt, Rakesh Gaonkar, Shivam Chauhan
- Investor backing
- Accel and angel investors including Binny Bansal (Flipkart) and Nikhil Kamath (Zerodha)
- Flight testing
- Over 500 flight tests and 18 hours of testing with Sylla demonstrator
- Prototypes
- Shunya (full-scale); next prototype due January 2027 for transition flight