Tidco in talks to run air taxis, aerial delivery in Chennai
B Krishnamoorthy, project director of Tidco, said with the participation of the various stakeholders, Chennai will become the first successful city to implement the UAM program.
Representative Image
CHENNAI: If not in a few years, denizens may evade traffic snarls on roads by flying around at least in the near future as the Tidco (Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation Ltd) has commenced discussions to develop an Urban Air Mobility (UAM) ecosystem for Chennai.
An official of the Tidco, which conducted a workshop on Urban Air Mobility (UAM) here on Thursday, said: "The objective was to hold discussions on the development of a UAM ecosystem that will enable drone and short-haul air transport operators to safely and successfully provide urban air transport to the greater Chennai Metropolitan Area."
Tidco is a state government agency that oversees industrial growth in Tamil Nadu.
Representatives from Boeing's Research and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M), Greater Chennai Traffic Police, Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (Cumta), Airport Authority of India (AAI), Tamil Nadu Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Corporation (TNUAV), Medical Supplies Corporation (TNMSC), Greater Chennai Corporation and other agencies took part in the discussion. The Tidco plans the air mobility system for performing emergency response operations and ferrying commuters and cargo.
During the meeting, Sandeep Nanduri, managing director of Tidco said as the city crowds become denser, there is an increased need for hypermobility. "Once we hit the limits of what can be achieved with metro and roads, we need new solutions that will address the areas of rapid logistics and mobility," he opined.
B Krishnamoorthy, project director of Tidco, said with the participation of the various stakeholders, Chennai will become the first successful city to implement the UAM program.
"The discussions around vertical flights, safety, security, regulation and management of air traffic take a higher priority. Communication, navigation and surveillance were also being discussed," he added.
The workshop concluded that the development of the UAM system should be executed in a phased manner, starting with the development of a roadmap for a fully functional UAM System which would enable the creation of vertiports, a Unified Traffic Management supported by CNS (Communication, Navigation and Surveillance) systems, capacity management, geo-fencing, zone management and others.
In a post on 'X', state Industries Minister TRB Rajaa said urban air mobility would be the norm shortly. "Chennai will soon see a brand new skyline and smart mobility is key for its next avatar as a modern booming mega metropolitan city," he added.
