Summary:
The unit cost of the aircraft, with more than 70% indigenous content, was estimated at about Rs 40-45 crore compared to Rs 60-70 crore for the imported ones.Defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has already signed an MoU to build Saras post certification. “We have been told that it is in the pipeline and clearance is at advanced stages. Saras is developed by National Aeronautics Laboratories (NAL).First conceived in 1989, the project was to be shelved after a Saras prototype aircraft crashed near Bidadi on the city outskirts in March 2009, killing three personnel. India will need 120-160 such aircraft, including for civilian use, over the next decade. The credit for reviving the project goes to the present government,” Union minister Harsh Vardhan said at the 2017 air show.However, two years later, the Centre’s Rs 500 crore fund for the project is yet to reach the NAL..