Sarla Aviation Begins Ground Tests of Air Taxis in Bengaluru

Bengaluru-based Sarla Aviation has begun ground testing its half-scale electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) demonstrator, SYL-X1, at its local facility, marking a significant milestone in India’s private air-taxi ambitions.

“This milestone reflects what’s possible when globally experienced Indian engineering teams build with rigour, patience, and world-class standards,” said Rakesh Gaonkar, co-founder and chief technology officer of Sarla Aviation. “We are building something India can be proud of, a platform that can be certified, produced, and safely operated, designed and owned entirely in India.”

Founded in 2023 by former Lilium executives Rakesh Gaonkar and Adrian Schmidt, Sarla Aviation is developing a six-seater electric air taxi aimed at cities including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Pune.

The company said the tests will validate structural performance, propulsion integration and system-level safety as it transitions from design and laboratory work to aircraft-scale trials. SYL-X1 is part of Sarla Aviation’s broader effort to develop a certified, domestically built eVTOL aircraft for urban transportation in India.

SYL-X1 features a 7.5-metre wingspan and serves as a sub-scale platform for the company’s planned full-scale aircraft with a 15-metre wingspan. Sarla Aviation said the demonstrator was designed with certification requirements in mind from the outset, creating a direct pathway toward commercial deployment.

According to the company, the current testing phase focuses on real-world validation of aircraft systems rather than small-scale prototypes, helping bridge the gap between early experimentation and certification-led development. The programme involved building a certification-aligned testing ecosystem and working closely with India’s aerospace supply chain.

It has raised $13 million to date and said its roadmap targets helicopter-class endurance with lower operating costs through electric propulsion.