Maharashtra govt diverts ₹12.91 crore for pilot’s passion project

Captain Amol Yadav shot to fame a few years ago after he assembled a prototype of a six-seater aircraft on the terrace of his Mumbai house and subsequently presented it at the ‘Make In India’ exhibition in 2016. Later, in 2018, the then Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government announced that it would allot land to the pilot near Palghar

Mumbai: Brushing aside the objections raised by chief secretary Manu Kumar Srivastava, the Shinde-Fadnavis government has sanctioned ₹12.91 crore to Thrust Aircraft Pvt Ltd, a company formed by a commercial pilot, Captain Amol Yadav, to build a 19-seater aircraft. The funds have been diverted from the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Research and Training Institute (BARTI), which comes under the social justice department. The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet.

Govt diverts ₹12.91 crore for pilot’s passion project

Captain Amol Yadav shot to fame a few years ago after he assembled a prototype of a six-seater aircraft on the terrace of his Mumbai house and subsequently presented it at the ‘Make In India’ exhibition in 2016. Later, in 2018, the then Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government announced that it would allot land to the pilot near Palghar.

The proposal put up before the cabinet claimed that Yadav had successfully conducted trials of the six-seater aircraft and now plans to build a 19-seater one. “Yadav belongs to the scheduled caste and has requested for financial assistance,” stated the proposal, adding that if he succeeds, Yadav has plans to manufacture 100 such 19-seater aircraft in the next 10 years, which will “create thousands of jobs and bring in foreign exchange through the export of the aircraft”. The proposal says that “all these benefits” should entitle the pilot to “a special one-time financial assistance of ₹12.91 crore”.

However, chief secretary Srivastava has expressed his reservations on the proposal. “The social justice department has sought information and guidance from the civil aviation ministry on certain issues. The information is not yet available and issues are not addressed. Technical validation from a competent authority is important. In its absence, it is not logical to put the proposal before the cabinet for approval,” Srivastava remarked in his written opinion on the proposal. A copy of the proposal with the remarks of the chief secretary is with HT.

Apart from Srivastava, the state finance department too has criticised the proposal. The Maharashtra Airport Development Company Ltd (MADC) has expressed its inability to support the proposal, remarking that the government should have roped in technical experts from IIT, NAL and DRDO before approving the project since “MADC does not have a research unit for this kind of technical analysis of aeronautical engineering”.

Significantly, the social justice department did not have any specific answers to the remarks by the chief secretary, finance department and MADC.

In 2018, the Maharashtra government had signed a ₹35,000-crore memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Thrust Aircraft Pvt Ltd to set up a factory for small aircraft and develop Palghar as an aviation hub. Even back then, experts in the aviation sector had expressed their reservations about the government entering into the joint venture even before Yadav’s aircraft was officially tested. There is no word on what happened to the MoU. Yadav, who still works with a private airline, meanwhile has moved on to the 19-seater aircraft.

When contacted, Yadav said he was earlier assured of a land parcel of 157 acres in Palghar but the proposal got caught in red tape. “Later, I was given a hangar at Dhule Airport,” he said. “I am told the government didn’t have any scheme to fund such a project, so they might have allocated funds from BARTI, which helps for research works.”

The commercial pilot also insisted that his previous venture was successful. “My six-seater aircraft cleared all tests and got registered,” he said. “But it is a single engine and a small aircraft. Nowadays, most people prefer double-engine aircraft. For intra-state aerial transport between two districts, the 19-seater would be more useful, so I am now working on this bigger plane,” said Yadav, trying to explain away the reason behind the change in his venture.

When contacted, Sumant Bhange, secretary of the social justice department, was not available for comment. Srivastava too was not available for his comment. Dhammajyoti Gajbhiye, director-general of BARTI did not reply to calls and messages.