The ePlane Company, operated by Ubifly Technologies, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Noida International Airport to build the ground infrastructure and regulatory systems needed for eVTOL air taxis. The Chennai-based firm will work with the airport to develop vertiports, charging stations and operating procedures for its e200X electric aircraft. The agreement aims to bring zero-emission air taxi, cargo and air ambulance services to the Delhi-NCR region.
What Did the ePlane Company and Noida International Airport Agree To?
The two partners will jointly design the ground infrastructure, regulatory standard operating procedures and operational systems required to deploy eVTOL aircraft, going well beyond building the aircraft itself. Under the MoU, the airport will set aside space for proof-of-concept trials, vertiports and charging stations, while ePlane handles aircraft clearances and flight testing.
The Yamuna International Airport Private Limited (YIAPL), the concessionaire that develops and runs Noida International Airport, will allocate space inside the airport campus for these trials. The airport will also adjust its own standard operating procedures to accommodate eVTOL services. Both sides will engage with regulators, Air Traffic Control (ATC) and state governments to build safety frameworks and a Vertiport Management System, which is the software backbone for scheduling, charging and managing electric aircraft on the ground.
The collaboration also plans AI-assisted fleet scheduling that can plug into smart-city systems, an approach that treats air taxis as one layer of an integrated urban transport network rather than a standalone service. The stated aim is to enable e200X-powered airport-to-airport transit, intra-city commutes and emergency air ambulance services across the region.
About The ePlane Company
The ePlane Company was incorporated as Ubifly Technologies Private Limited in 2019 at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell. It is led by founder and director Prof. Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, an aerospace engineering professor at IIT Madras, alongside co-founder Pranjal Mehta. Its registered office is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
The firm has built a series of subscale demonstrators, including the ATVA and the e50, which together logged more than 10,000 kilometres of cumulative flight testing before the full-scale programme began. It received Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in 2023, making it the first private Indian aerospace entity cleared to design electric aircraft. Its e200X was also the first eVTOL accepted into the DGCA’s type-certification pipeline, the formal process that confirms an aircraft design meets safety standards.
In a separate push, the Technology Development Board (TDB) under the Department of Science and Technology approved ₹285 crore in support to Ubifly Technologies under the Research, Development and Innovation (RDI) Fund. With a total project cost of ₹570 crore, the funding is meant to move the ePlane platform from Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 to TRL 9, the stage at which a technology is proven in an operational setting.
What Is eVTOL (Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing)?
eVTOL stands for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing. It describes an aircraft that lifts off and lands straight up like a helicopter but runs on electric motors and batteries instead of a fuel-powered engine. These aircraft are the centrepiece of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM), an emerging global push to move people and cargo through the lower airspace above cities.
eVTOL aircraft use a principle called distributed electric propulsion. Instead of one large rotor driven by a single engine, they carry several small electric rotors placed around the airframe. Each rotor is powered independently. This gives the aircraft propulsor redundancy, meaning that if one motor fails, the remaining rotors can still keep it flying to a safe landing. Electric motors also have very few moving parts, which makes them quieter and simpler to maintain than turbines.
Different designs approach flight in different ways. Some eVTOLs, including the e200X, keep a set of dedicated rotors for vertical lift and a separate set of propellers for forward flight. Others use tilt-rotors or tilt-wings that rotate to switch between lifting off and cruising. The choice affects speed, range and energy use.
How Does an eVTOL Differ From a Helicopter?
A conventional helicopter relies on a single main rotor and a tail rotor, both driven by one engine. If a critical component fails, the pilot has limited control over where the aircraft lands. An eVTOL spreads lift across many electric units, so a single failure is far less dangerous. Electric operation also cuts emissions and noise.
| Feature | eVTOL Aircraft | Conventional Helicopter |
|---|---|---|
| Propulsion | Several electric motors and rotors | One engine driving main and tail rotors |
| Failure tolerance | High, due to redundant rotors | Low, single points of failure remain |
| Emissions | Zero tailpipe emissions | Fossil-fuel emissions |
| Noise | Lower, due to small, slow-turning rotors | Comparatively louder |
| Landing space | Compact pads and rooftops | Larger helipads and clear approach paths |
A related comparison is between an eVTOL and a drone. Both use electric rotors, but a drone is typically uncrewed and light, while an eVTOL carries a pilot, passengers or cargo and must meet stricter airworthiness standards. India’s DGCA rules treat eVTOL-capable aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of up to 5,700 kg and a pilot on board as a distinct category for certification.
The e200X: ePlane’s Flagship Electric Aircraft
The e200X is the aircraft at the centre of the Noida airport partnership. It is a compact, three-seater electric aircraft designed to operate from the small helipads that already exist on hospital rooftops, corporate campuses and government buildings. This lets it use current urban infrastructure instead of waiting for an entirely new network of landing sites.
The company unveiled the first full-scale prototype, designated PT-01, in July 2026. This is a 2.2-tonne, carbon-fibre aircraft that has now moved from computer simulation into physical ground testing at IIT Madras. Ground tests check structural loads, engine response and vibration before any flight is attempted. Under the MoU, early operational trials will first use drones before shifting to piloted e200X flights once certification is in place.
The e200X is built around ePlane’s patented Synergistic Lift architecture, which separates vertical lift from forward flight and does away with tilt-rotors. It runs on an 800-volt distributed electric propulsion system with six dedicated lift rotors and four forward propellers.
| Specification | Detail |
|---|---|
| Seating | One pilot and two passengers |
| Cargo capacity | Up to 200 kg |
| Footprint | 8 metres by 11 metres, among the smallest in its class |
| Range | About 110 km on a single charge |
| Cruise speed | About 160 km per hour |
| Airframe | Carbon-fibre, weighing about 2.2 tonnes |
| Powertrain | 800-volt distributed electric propulsion |
| Variants | Air taxi, air cargo and air ambulance |
The aircraft is designed as one airframe that can be configured for three markets: passenger air taxis, middle-mile urban cargo and emergency air ambulance services. For medical use, ePlane says a patient can reach care in under ten minutes, roughly four times faster than the ground average. The company has partnered with firms such as HENSOLDT for avionics and Apollo Hospitals for an electric air ambulance network. The company has said it has secured commitments for more than 800 aircraft.
Noida International Airport: A Greenfield Hub for Delhi-NCR
Noida International Airport, also called Jewar Airport, is a greenfield airport in Jewar, in the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. It carries the IATA code DXN and the ICAO code VIND, and sits along the Yamuna Expressway, about 72 kilometres from New Delhi. It is designed to work alongside Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport as part of a dual-airport system for the National Capital Region.
The airport is developed and operated by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG of Switzerland, under a public-private partnership with the Uttar Pradesh and Union governments. Its opening was a long journey, with the first commercial operation delayed from an original 2022 target.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| Foundation stone laid by PM Narendra Modi | 25 November 2021 |
| DGCA aerodrome licence granted | 6 March 2026 |
| Phase 1 inaugurated | 28 March 2026 |
| Commercial operations began | 15 June 2026 |
| First scheduled flight | IndiGo, from Lucknow |
In Phase 1, the airport has one runway of 3,900 metres and a single passenger terminal built to handle 12 million passengers a year, at an investment of about ₹11,200 crore. It is a four-phase project that can eventually scale to 70 million passengers annually and a total cost of over ₹29,500 crore. Because it sits in the National Capital Region and is designed for multi-modal links with roads, metro and rail, the airport is a natural test-bed for future urban air mobility services.
India’s Regulatory Push for Advanced Air Mobility
Air taxis cannot fly without a clear set of rules. India has been building that framework over the past two years, with the DGCA acting as the lead regulator. The DGCA’s Drone Directorate has been made the nodal body for advanced air mobility, and it runs six working groups covering vertiports, aircraft certification, crew licensing, air operator permits, traffic management and maintenance.
DGCA Guidelines for Vertiports and Type Certification
In September 2024, the DGCA issued two key advisory circulars. The first, on the design, operation and authorisation of vertiports, set standards for landing areas, visual aids, battery charging and emergency safety. A vertiport is the ground facility where eVTOL aircraft take off, land, park and charge, much like an airport terminal is for planes. The second circular laid out airworthiness and type-certification requirements for vertical take-off and landing capable aircraft.
Type certification is the process by which a regulator confirms that an aircraft design is safe enough to carry passengers. It involves agreeing on the safety standards to be met, inspecting that the built aircraft matches the approved design, flight testing, and finally issuing a Type Certificate. Only after this can an operator seek an Air Operator Permit to run commercial services.
The Draft Urban Air Mobility Policy
Beyond certification, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) circulated a draft national policy for Urban Air Mobility (UAM) in April 2026, which defines where air taxis will be allowed to fly and how routes will be approved. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has also framed draft vertiport design standards and is responsible for issuing vertiport operating licences. Once these pieces are in place, route corridors linking airports and city centres can be formally cleared.
India’s Emerging Air Taxi and eVTOL Ecosystem
The ePlane-Noida airport deal is one part of a wider race to build electric air mobility in India. Several homegrown startups are working on eVTOL aircraft and the ground systems they need, and global aerospace firms are supplying components.
| Company | Base | Key Product | Notable Detail |
|---|---|---|---|
| The ePlane Company | Chennai | e200X | First eVTOL in the DGCA type-certification pipeline |
| Sarla Aviation | Bengaluru | Shunya | Six-seat plus pilot aircraft with a range of over 300 km |
| Zuri | India | Cargo and passenger VTOL | Focus on hybrid and electric platforms |
Sarla Aviation, founded in 2023 by Adrian Schmidt and Rakesh Gaonkar, unveiled its Shunya air taxi, described as India’s first fully indigenous flying taxi, in Delhi in 2025. It received Design Organisation Approval from the DGCA in August 2026 and signed an MoU with Tata Elxsi in September 2026 for engineering support in avionics, flight controls and certification.
The wider sector also reflects a global trend. A 2026 study of advanced air mobility in India, prepared with inputs from industry and international bodies, recommended prioritising a full-scale demonstration vertiport and aligning Indian standards with those of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States. Aligning with these systems would let Indian aircraft be validated abroad more easily.
Why This Partnership Matters
Building an aircraft is only half the task of launching air taxis. Without vertiports, charging points, safety procedures and clear airspace rules, even a certified electric aircraft cannot carry a paying passenger. By pairing aircraft development with ground and regulatory work, the MoU tries to avoid a situation where a finished aircraft sits idle waiting for infrastructure.
For the Delhi-NCR region, the partnership addresses a well-known problem. The region suffers from severe road congestion, and the new airport is about 72 kilometres from central Delhi. A working air taxi network could compress a journey that takes hours by road into minutes in the air. The same infrastructure that carries passengers can also support air ambulances and cargo, improving access to specialist medical care in a crowded urban corridor.
The timing is significant. India is already among the world’s largest domestic aviation markets, and its aviation regulator has moved early with dedicated rules for eVTOL aircraft and vertiports. Noida International Airport, being a fresh greenfield project with a stated goal of low-carbon operations, can embed advanced air mobility into its design from the start rather than retrofit it later. Together, these factors place India among a small group of countries trying to build an electric air mobility ecosystem at the same time.
Challenges and the Road Ahead
The path to commercial air taxi services still has several hurdles. Aircraft must complete type certification, a process that can take years and involves extensive flight testing. Battery technology sets a limit on how far and how often an eVTOL can fly, and its 110 km range is suited to short urban trips rather than long journeys. Land for vertiports in crowded cities is scarce, and each site needs clearances from multiple authorities.
Airspace management is another concern. Thousands of low-altitude electric flights must be safely separated from drones, helicopters and conventional aircraft, which is why the partnership places such weight on a Vertiport Management System and coordination with Air Traffic Control.
The immediate next steps are clear. The e200X must progress through ground and flight testing under DGCA supervision, and the company will pursue clearances from the DGCA and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS). The first operations at Noida airport will use drones to validate procedures before piloted flights begin. How quickly the promises turn into routine services will depend on how fast certification, policy and ground infrastructure come together.
Key Takeaways
- The ePlane Company, operated by Ubifly Technologies, signed an MoU with Noida International Airport to develop ground infrastructure and operating systems for eVTOL aircraft.
- The company was incorporated in 2019 at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell and is led by founder-director Prof. Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy.
- The e200X is a three-seater electric aircraft with a range of about 110 km, a cruise speed of about 160 kmph and a 200 kg cargo capacity.
- eVTOL stands for electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing, and forms part of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).
- The DGCA issued advisory circulars for vertiports and eVTOL type certification in September 2024, while the Ministry of Civil Aviation released a draft Urban Air Mobility policy in April 2026.
- Noida International Airport, also called Jewar Airport, began commercial operations on 15 June 2026 and is run by Yamuna International Airport Private Limited, a subsidiary of Zurich Airport International AG.
- The Technology Development Board approved ₹285 crore in support to Ubifly Technologies to move the ePlane platform from TRL 6 to TRL 9.
