Andhra Pradesh is betting big on a future where the sky becomes a commuting corridor. A state-backed giga-scale factory aims to produce up to 1,000 electric air taxis a year by 2027, signaling a shift from prototype flights to mass-manufactured urban mobility. This ambitious plan could redefine how people move across crowded cities and coastal corridors.
India’s Sky Factory Targets 1000 Electric Air Taxis by 2027
Recent Trends
- India pushes to build a domestic eVTOL ecosystem with mega-factories
- Public-private partnerships accelerate aerospace innovation
- Urban air mobility moves from concept to pilots and production
In Visakhapatnam during the CII Partnership Summit 2025, Sarla Aviation and the Andhra Pradesh Airport Development Corporation Ltd (APADCL) signed a memorandum of understanding to spin up the Sky Factory in Anantapur. The project will kick off with an investment of ₹330 crore to create a 150-acre manufacturing and testing campus at Thimmasamduram village in Kalyanadurg mandal. The facility will host production lines, R&D labs, composite units, and a dedicated 2-kilometre runway for testing and certification. A second phase will push the footprint to 350 more acres, expanding capacity and supplier integration.
Once fully operational, the Sky Factory is designed to churn out as many as 1,000 aircraft per year, including Sarla’s Shunya hybrid VTOL and a suite of indigenous systems such as electrical harnesses, landing gear, and advanced composites. The plan foresees significant high-value employment by 2027, starting with 40 specialized roles and 140 indirect jobs, a signal that government and industry see green mobility as a job-creation engine as well as a transport revolution.
Rakesh Gaonkar, cofounder and chief technology officer at Sarla Aviation, framed the project as a way to anchor India at the center of next-generation aviation. He said the Sky Factory could anchor India’s role in the future of flight, with a giga facility shaping the aircraft of the future and establishing India as a force in sustainable aerial mobility.
According to Business Today, Sarla Aviation is backed by Accel and targets commercial operations by 2029, positioning India to compete in the global electric aviation race. The report underscores how the Andhra Pradesh push aligns with a wider trend toward national-scale manufacturing clusters for high-tech transport. In practical terms, the Sky Factory could become a blueprint for other states seeking to blend aerospace excellence with green mobility, while pushing suppliers to invest in local capabilities rather than rely solely on imported parts.
Analysts say the project will depend on a clear regulatory pathway, certification standards for eVTOL aircraft, and a regulatory sandbox that allows early testing without the friction of full airspace rules. For defense planners and city planners alike, the message is simple: scale matters. If a single giga-factory can produce a thousand flying taxis a year, the question becomes not just about flight technology, but about air traffic management, insurance, and public acceptance. The pattern mirrors other global programs where urban mobility ambitions collide with safety, pricing, and urban space allocation.
What the Sky Factory signals for India and the world
The Andhra Pradesh plan is more than a factory announcement. It is a strategic signal that India intends to play a leading role in green aviation and next-generation mobility. By coupling manufacturing capacity with testing infrastructure and a local supply chain, the project aims to shorten the time from prototype to practical service. If successful, India could leverage domestic expertise to bid for regional and international eVTOL contracts, challenging established players in Europe and North America.
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A closer look at the implications for industry and policy. The project will require a mature ecosystem, including safety certification, airspace integration, and urban infrastructure that can accommodate new kinds of air mobility. It also raises questions about job training, local content, and long-term maintenance. For readers, the headline is less about a single product and more about a nation building an entire ecosystem for the future of flight.
Market implications
Industry watchers are watching how domestic components and suppliers will scale to meet demand. A successful Sky Factory could spur investment in batteries, propulsion, composites, software for flight control, and digital twins for performance testing. The trend line points to a broader shift: where once the aviation sector relied on a few global suppliers, we now see regional clusters forming around ambitious government-backed programs.
Conclusion
In short, the Sky Factory paints a vivid picture of India entering the upper tier of urban aerial mobility. The path will require alignment of policy, safety standards, and manufacturing excellence, but the potential payoff is large: a new export category, thousands of jobs, and a globally competitive eVTOL ecosystem centered in Andhra Pradesh. For readers and policymakers alike, the takeaway is clear: scale changes everything in modern transport.
