Ajeet Jha
New Delhi, Jan 25 (UNI) Country’s first indigenously manufactured pilot training aircraft, the Diamond DA40, built by private sector, is expected to become a reality by December this year.
The DA40 aircrafts are being manufactured by Shakti Aircraft Industries Private Limited (SAIPL), a joint venture between India’s Shakti Group and Austria’s Diamond Aircraft Industries.
The company began supplying these aircrafts to Indian customers in Mar 2025, but these were not manufactured in the country yet.
In response to the questionnaire sent via email, the company told UNI, it had started construction of assembly line at Tirupur, Tamil Nadu. All production tools have arrived, and “we expect to get CAR 21 certification by mid-2026”.
This certification, necessary for manufacturing an aircraft in India, will be issued by DGCA. CAR 21 is a certification of aircraft as well as related products and parts.
SAIPL has planned a 450 cr CapEx for this project in phase 1. “We expect final assembly to kick off from mid-2026 with deliveries during the last quarter of the calendar year 2026,” the company said.
Asked about prospects of exporting from India, the company replied affirmatively. It said, “SAIPL will be selling the DA40 NG across the Indian subcontinent and we also will be exporting components to the global Diamond supply chain in the near future.”
The Diamond DA40 NG is a four-seater single-engine aircraft.
With India’s aviation sector growing at a fast pace, and a requirement of 20,000 pilots projected over next 10 years, company expects to capture a good part of training aircraft demand.
“We currently have 35 FTOs (flight training organisations) and the government intends to double this number in the next 10 years to ensure enough pilots are trained and certified. Therefore, being the only Indian made trainer aircraft and other major competitors facing limited delivery slot issues, we foresee healthy numbers to sustain the venture,” the SAIPL said in its response regarding mid to long term prospects for these machines.
SAIPL will showcase its DA40 NG, DA42, and DA62 aircrafts during Wings India 2026 at Begumpet Airport in Hyderabad this month. In addition to pilot training, these aircrafts may be used for multi-purpose missions as well, the company clarified.
