Six is a crowd: India reveals plan for 70-plus seat regional jet

"Monkey see monkey do. Just what the world needs, another bloody regional jet." So said one observer upon learning that India is looking to build a 70- to 100-seat RJ. I'm guessing that the aviation industry may have a similar reaction.

Reports out of India say state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) has been asked by the government to prepare a roadmap for the design and construction of a so-called Indian Regional Jet (IRJ), and that the project will seek assistance from Bombardier or Embraer.

Should the plan progress, the world of regional aircraft manufacturing is going to get awfully crowded. China's AVIC I Commercial Aircraft Corporation, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Russia's Sukhoi have already thrown their hats into the ring with the ARJ, the MRJ and the SSJ, respectively. They are hoping to ride a wave of order activity that has seen Bombardier and Embraer build record backlogs and forecast robust demand for larger-capacity types for many years to come. Whether the newbies will attract large orders outside of their own backyards remains to be seen.

For the record, Bombardier says it does not have any industry arrangement with HAL on commercial aircraft at this time "and we do not comment on discussion with aerospace companies on future programmes". Embraer could not be immediately reached for comment.

I question whether either company will be keen to help India develop something that will squarely compete with aircraft in their own portfolios. Then again, Bombardier says it remains committed to supporting the Chinese-built ARJ21-900.

Regardless, the news means potentially big business for HAL, which is also likely to be the production house for India's very first civil transport aircraft, a 14-seat multi-role twin turboprop now in testing. This will give HAL a foray into commercial aircraft development.

On hearing news that the same firm will probably take the lead on both projects, our oh-so-cynical industry observer quips: "Even better, they'll take 50 years to get on with both and then realise that it is out of date." Easy tiger.

(HAL logo from company web site www.hal-india.com)