The ePlane Company, an Indian electric aircraft startup, announced on Monday a deal to supply 788 air ambulances valued at over $1 billion—a significant move as India’s bustling cities face worsening traffic congestion.
Under this non-binding agreement, ePlane will provide its electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft to ICATT, an air ambulance service provider planning to deploy them across every district in India. These battery-powered aircraft, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, are poised to transform urban mobility by offering a viable alternative to traffic-bound travel. India’s emerging eVTOL market also includes players like Archer Aviation and Sarla Aviation.
ePlane is aiming for commercial operations by the latter half of 2026, targeting an initial production of 100 units per year. In an interview with Reuters, founder Satya Chakravarthy remarked, “We can ramp up our production and put things into the market to good use much more effectively with an air ambulance than directly going to an air taxi.” He added, “It’s possible for us to ramp up air ambulances a lot more organically, compared to having to go to a rush with an air taxi.”
The aircraft are designed to offer an initial range of about 110 kilometres (68.4 miles), with the potential to extend to over 200 kilometres in the future.
So far, ePlane has raised $20 million from investors and plans to start with three prototypes of the ambulances. Each prototype will accommodate a pilot, a paramedic, and a patient on a stretcher. Chakravarthy, who is a professor at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras and whose startup is incubated there, mentioned that an additional $100 million would be needed to develop more prototypes in various configurations, secure type certification, and initiate commercial production.
