The first flight of India’s re-engined and modified passenger jet SARAS is expected to take off this June, Times of India has reported, reviving hopes that India’s three-decade-old plan to build an indigenous passenger jet will finally materialise.

Placed on the back-burner after the crash of a prototype in 2009 that killed a three-member Indian Air Force (IAF) crew, the programme was revived by the government as a part of its push for affordable regional air connectivity.

Now, the Bengaluru-based National Aerospace Laboratory (NAL) has handed over a reconfigured prototype to IAF’s Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE). The testing centre has conducted a few low-speed ground runs.