GO Aero
Electric plane airline
Meeting Harsh Vardhan of vayudoot
India’s youngest PSU CEO
The Go Mobility initiative of the IIT Alumni Council straddles all forms of transportation – road, water and air.
The ebus module involves the development of autonomous virtual metro systems in areas where the traffic levels do not warrant a regular metro service. In water transport, GO is targeting nextgen ships and hydrofoil speed boats using sustainable fuels. In aviation, the GO platform is working on unmanned aerial vehicles which can carry upto 2 tons cargo or 20 people.
As we ran through past successes in India in the aviation sector – one example stands out. This is Vayudoot – the original feeder airline set up by the government in 1983 which finally became part of Air India in 1994.
Vayudoot was headed by a young CEO in his twenties – Harsh Vardhan. He had been hand picked by the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Vayudoot opened over 100 airports in under five years. They were the first to acquire small aircraft’s and provide connectivity to then remote areas around the country. Had it not been for Vayudoot and Mr Harsh Vardhan – Indian aviation would not have been where it is today.
I met up with Harsh Vardhan finally after chasing him for several weeks. It was a delight to spend a couple of hours with him and the energetic Arun Sharma from the Federation of Aviation in India. Mr Harsh Vardhan agreed fully that an indigenous twin motor plane was the way to go. We discussed various options to simplify the plane design including options like removing the windows and replacing them with TV screens inside for an external view. We also discussed some interesting ideas on how to use the same fuselage for cargo and passenger planes.
Conventional wisdom says that in long haul large planes the running cost is important. Whereas for short haul small planes – capital costs are important. We discussed applications like air ambulances and remote area cargo pickup.
Flying trucks seems like a business which is 5x the revenue potential of flying buses. People weigh too much these days and intermediation costs in agricultural produce make air transport feasible.
Electrification and autonomous operations can change everything. It is possible to move cargo from Manipur to Delhi for Rs 20 per kg all inclusive. The planes can carry merchandise like electronics from say Delhi to Manipur and bring back prized fresh produce like lekadong turmeric or even pineapples.
Done right any airport in North East can be a Rs 1000 flight from Kolkata or a Rs 10 per kg cargo link