Manipal Hospital and Sarla Aviation Sign eVTOL Air Ambulance MoU

Manipal Hospital Old Airport Road, Sarla Aviation, and Aeromed International Rescue Services have established a tripartite partnership to develop electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) air ambulance operations in Bengaluru, India. The collaboration targets the severe urban traffic constraints that frequently delay critical emergency medical transfers.

Announced in a press release on August 31, 2026, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was formally signed on August 7, 2026. The agreement outlines a framework to design a specialized medical cabin for Sarla Aviation’s planned Shunya eVTOL aircraft and establish clinical protocols for airborne emergency response.

Clinical protocols for airborne emergency response

The partnership will focus on developing operational standards for high-acuity patient transfers. According to the announcement, the initial use cases will include trauma response, heart attacks, strokes, neonatal care, and organ transplantation. By utilizing eVTOL aircraft, the consortium intends to transport patients directly between incident locations and hospital facilities, significantly reducing transit times compared to conventional road ambulances.

Dr. H. Sudarshan Ballal, Chairman of Manipal Hospitals, emphasized the clinical necessity of the project.

“Healthcare is constantly evolving, and our responsibility is to embrace innovations that can make care more accessible, timely and effective. The integration of advanced aviation technology with our healthcare expertise has the potential to significantly transform emergency and inter-hospital patient transfers. Through this collaboration, we hope to help shape a safe, clinically robust and scalable model for next-generation air ambulance services in India, with the patient firmly at the centre.”

Regulatory milestones for Sarla Aviation

The MoU announcement follows a critical regulatory milestone for Sarla Aviation. Founded in October 2023, the Bengaluru-based manufacturers received its Design Organisation Approval (DOA) from India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on August 8, 2026. The DOA formally recognizes the company’s aeronautical design capabilities and clears a path toward type certification for its indigenous eVTOL designs.

Prior to securing the DGCA approval, Sarla Aviation completed an extensive flight-test campaign using a half-scale technology demonstrator named Sylla. The company reported conducting over 500 test-flights to validate its aerodynamic and propulsion models.

During the DOA handover ceremony, India’s Minister of Civil Aviation, Shri. Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, highlighted the role of advanced air mobility in addressing urban infrastructure challenges.

“What we have to now provide is seamless connectivity from the airport to the doorstep. That is where this will be very, very instrumental. With the kind of urbanisation and increase in population that we are seeing, we have to bring in new technologies to cater to that.”

AirPro News analysis

We are observing a distinct trend in the Indian Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market where healthcare providers are emerging as the primary early adopters of eVTOL technology. While passenger air taxi services face significant hurdles regarding public acceptance and vertiport infrastructure, medical evacuation offers a high-value, time-critical use case that justifies the initial operational costs of early eVTOL platforms.

The Manipal Hospitals agreement is part of a broader industry movement. As of June 2026, several major Indian hospital networks, including Aster DM Healthcare, Apollo Hospitals, Fortis Healthcare, and Max Healthcare, were actively evaluating or had already signed agreements with domestic eVTOL developers like Sarla Aviation and The ePlane Company. By focusing on air ambulance configurations first, manufacturers can build flight hours and demonstrate safety cases in highly controlled, critical-need environments before scaling to general passenger transport.

Sources: Manipal Hospitals via PR Newswire