Tata Elxsi Limited and Sarla Aviation have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Bengaluru on 1 September 2026 to jointly develop Shunya, an electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft designed to carry six passengers along with a pilot. The partnership combines Tata Elxsi's engineering strengths with Sarla Aviation's leadership in aircraft design, aiming to advance India's push into next-generation air mobility.

Shunya: India's First Indigenous eVTOL Aircraft

Shunya is being built to operate on flights exceeding 300 kilometres, blending vertical take-off and landing capability with the cruising efficiency of a fixed-wing aircraft. This design allows the aircraft to function without depending on traditional runways, making it suitable for connecting cities and regions that currently lack convenient air links.

The companies are targeting the aircraft's first flight within 18 to 24 months, after which certification activities are expected to follow. Sarla Aviation, a Bengaluru-based startup founded in 2023 by Adrian Schmidt and Rakesh Gaonkar, who previously worked together at the German eVTOL company Lilium, is developing Shunya with the goal of enabling faster regional air travel while also building the broader operational infrastructure needed to support such services at scale.

Tata Elxsi and Sarla Aviation Partner for Shunya eVTOL

The MoU was signed in the presence of Manoj Raghavan, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Elxsi, along with Sarla Aviation's co-founders Adrian Schmidt and Rakesh Gaonkar. Key points of the partnership include:

Tata Elxsi will contribute its expertise in avionics, flight control systems, software integration, testing, verification and validation, and certification support.
Sarla Aviation will lead the design, development, and type certification process for the Shunya aircraft.
The collaboration may extend further into sensor fusion-based navigation software, structural design, and airworthiness testing support.
Both companies have indicated that the partnership could eventually expand into areas such as logistics, air ambulance services, and defence-related applications.

Following the announcement, Tata Elxsi's shares closed at ₹3,638 on the NSE, up 1.66% from the previous session, though the stock has seen a decline of nearly 32% over the past year, with the company currently holding a market capitalisation of around ₹22,665 crore.