Deepinder Goyal's Aerospace Startup To Build Commercial Gas Turbine Engine

LAT Aerospace, an aviation startup from Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal, announced on Thursday that it would be building commercial gas turbine engines from scratch, something that has not been done before in India.

In a post on X, Goyal said that the startup would be creating a propulsion research team in Bengaluru, whose purpose is to design and build commercially viable gas turbine engines from the ground up.

He mentioned that they would be "lightweight", "efficient", "flight-ready" and "Made in India".

Goyal said that the design ethos would be centred around innovative freedom and speed. And the team would have access to combustion, turbomachinery, thermal systems labs and materials to give their engineers "the space and freedom to iterate fast". "We’re giving engineers the freedom to think, build, break, and repeat," he said.

He also added that the initiative will not be bogged down by business executive interference, stating that the team would be led by engineers and the focus would be over speed and functionality instead of corporate approval.

"No waiting around for approvals from 'business' people. No chasing slides or meetings. Just hands-on problem solving, running bench tests, working with suppliers, building hardware from scratch — and pushing the limits of design and physics every day," Goyal said in his post.

This engine is intended to power the company's short takeoff and landing aircraft, a low-cost aeroplane, similar to a public bus, with 24 seats that aims to make air travel accessible to more people and cities.

This STOL aircraft is intended to use parking-lot-sized "air stops" instead of airports. The gas engine will also power unmanned aerial vehicles.

"If you’ve ever built turbines, rotors, control systems — or anything close — and want to be part of something that could one day, rewrite history, write to us at engines@lat.com," Goyal said, courting applications for the team.