The ePlane Company and Apollo Hospitals have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring electric air ambulances and medical delivery drones into India's emergency healthcare system. The MoU was signed in Chennai and announced at the Farnborough International Airshow in the UK. Karthik Reddy, Director of Apollo Hospitals Group, and Satya Chakravarthy, Founder and CTO of The ePlane Company, represented the two organisations at the airshow.
The partnership centres on ePlane's e200X, a carbon-fibre electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft weighing 2.2 tonnes, which will be used for inter-hospital transfers, trauma response, cardiac and stroke emergencies, and organ transport. The aircraft, which ePlane detailed at a full-scale unveiling earlier this month, carries a pilot and two passengers, or roughly 200 kilograms of cargo, over a range of up to 110 kilometres, and runs on an 800V electrical architecture designed to reduce wiring weight and enable faster charging. It also carries NVIDIA's IGX Thor computing platform for sensor fusion and HENSOLDT's navigation systems, with Tata Consultancy Services providing battery management and fleet analytics software. The deal also covers unmanned delivery drones from ePlane's subsidiary Amber Wings, which will move blood products, organs, vaccines, medicines, and diagnostic samples between healthcare facilities.
The e200X received Design Organisation Approval from the DGCA in 2023, with certified flight testing scheduled to begin in mid-2027; the company says it has already secured commitments for more than 800 aircraft, with a significant share of demand coming from emergency medical transport. Apollo Hospitals will contribute its network of 1,066 ambulances, hospitals, clinics, pharmacies, and diagnostic centres to the initiative, and the MoU outlines the possibility of a future strategic investment by Apollo in The ePlane Company, subject to further agreements.
