PODCAST: Dr. Satya Chakravarthy of The ePlane Company on how the company is aiming to reinvent city flight across India

Our podcast episode is now live! This week, we were delighted to be joined by Dr. Satya Chakravarthy, CEO of The ePlane Company.

In this episode, Dr. Satya shares the company’s mission to transform urban mobility through one of the world’s most compact eVTOL aircraft, designed to ease congestion and reduce emissions in densely populated cities.

The ePlane Company is the first private Indian firm to receive Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from the DGCA for an electric aircraft — a key milestone toward certification and commercialization.

The discussion explores the company’s lift-plus-cruise configuration, chosen for safety, redundancy, and certification efficiency over tilt-rotor designs. Satya details progress on the first full-scale prototype, expected to begin flight testing in late 2025, with certification targeted for mid-2027.

The roadmap includes air ambulance, air taxi, and cargo variants, with operations planned to start in India before expanding internationally.

Chakravarthy also highlights India’s proactive regulatory environment, including close collaboration with the DGCA and alignment with EASA standards. He notes strong public enthusiasm for eVTOLs, citing surveys showing over 75 per cent of Indian respondents support the concept of urban air mobility.

Click on the Play button below to listen to the episode, which is available on whichever podcast platform you use.