The dream ‘Indian regional passenger plane’ has taken a new turn: its 60/80-seater avatar may now be piloted by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL), with some help from Indian and foreign aircraft majors.

The earlier plan to steer it as a joint venture of HAL and the CSIR’s National Aerospace Labs (NAL) looks as good as shelved. HAL plans to develop it on its own as a prestigious “brand India” aircraft; or may pull global plane majors such as Boeing, Airbus or Embraer as well as Indian companies into a consortium as risk-sharing partners.

“We could not form the SPV [a 50:50 special purpose vehicle or company] with NAL due to certain reasons from NAL. It stopped there. Now we are looking at two options: make our own `brand India' aircraft or co-produce a regional transport aircraft (RTA)” suited to travel within the country, said T. Suvarna Raju, CMD of HAL, here on Wednesday.

“We are still deliberating the issue and are yet to take it up in the board,” he said addressing a news conference during an event to mark 75 years of the company.

Along with the multi-purpose helicopter ALH, a passenger plane, he said, forms an important aspect of HAL’s venture into civil space. Last year, it had invited proposals from engine manufacturers ahead of designing an aircraft around a suitable engine. The project to design and build flying prototypes, Mr. Raju said, was estimated to cost around Rs. 7,000 crore and would need all the funds it could garner.

Market surveys indicate that the country may need 200 aircraft in the 70-seater class over the next five years.