Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) Transport Aircraft Division (TAD) at Kanpur has been manufacturing 19 seater Dornier Do-228 since 1983 under Transfer of Technology from Germany. As of February 2022, more than 150 military Do-228 aircraft have been produced and supplied to various customers. Two civil Do-228 aircraft have also been produced by HAL. The Research & Development efforts for an indigenous civil transport aircraft have been initiated by HAL to develop a prototype Hindustan-228 aircraft, based on Dornier Do-228 platform. HAL has signed two MoUs with foreign companies for exploration of possible co-operation with no financial commitment, regarding development of an amphibian variant of Hindustan-228 aircraft. Also, ZeroAvia and HAL are to work together for a hydrogen-electric powertrain capable of flying the Dornier 228 up to 500 NM For development of Hindustan-228 prototype and indigenisation of the various systems, HAL has allocated Rs 94.41 crore from its internal resources.
