NEW DELHI: The shipping ministry has asked a Russian firm manufacturing hybrid aeroboats, which are capable of travelling on land, water, marshy land and snow, to carry out trial runs on Ganga before the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad.After a satisfactory trial run, these aeroboats will also be used during the Mela to transport passengers.“India is keen on trying these soon on inland waterways. The company has been asked to demonstrate at an early date, possibly along with the inauguration of a multi-modal terminal at Varanasi,” said a source in the shipping ministry.The company representatives met shipping minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday.The boats designed by IIAAT Holding, a joint venture between the International Institute for Advanced Aerospace Technologies and Indian firm Millennium Aerodynamics, were unveiled in Moscow at a start-ups event last year.These vessels can run on petrol, electricity or methanol and with a speed of 170 kmph. These vessels are made of aluminium and can be folded as well. After transportation, these take hardly 15 minutes to assemble and can accommodate 11 passengers. There are also bigger boats that can carry 60 persons.“They also have plane propellers that make them go fast as they go up in the air up to three metres. So it is outside the ambit of civil aviation regulations,” the official said.

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