Deepinder Goyal's LAT Aerospace eyes India-made gas turbine engine; wants engineers who can 'build, break, and repeat'

Mint

5 days ago

Eternal-owned Zomato's founder, Deepinder Goyal, on Thursday announced in a social media post that LAT Aerospace, an aviation startup backed by him, is setting up a propulsion research team in Bengaluru to build an India-made gas turbine engine. The startup is looking for people with a history in building turbines and rotors.
The company aims to build a Made-in-India gas turbine engine from scratch to manufacture lightweight, efficient, and flight-ready equipment.
'At LAT, we want to get past the finish line. So we're putting together a propulsion research team in Bangalore, focused solely on building gas turbine engines from scratch. Lightweight. Efficient. Flight-ready. Made in India,' said Goyal in his post on platform X.
The Zomato founder said that India has previously tried to build a homegrown gas turbine engine, but at LAT, they have now come close to building one.
'India has tried building gas turbine engines before. And we've come close,' said Goyal in his post.
However, in the post, Goyal has clearly mentioned that LAT Aerospace is not part of Eternal Ltd, which owns the online food delivery giant Zomato and e-commerce giant BlinkIt.
LAT Aerospace is looking for people who have a history in building turbines, rotors, or something similar to control systems. Through this opportunity, Goyal highlighted that the company is giving engineers the 'freedom to think' along with the ability to 'build, break, and repeat.'
'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 [e-mail],' said Goyal in his post.
LAT Aerospace's research centre is equipped with labs for combustion, turbomachinery, thermal systems, and materials, offering engineers space to innovate.
Goyal also said that the research will not be led by business personnel, but by engineers. Hence, there will be 'no chasing slides or meetings' so that people can work and run tests and work on design and physics every day.
'Also, this team will be led by engineers. 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,' said Goyal.
Goyal estimates that the innovation will not be easy, but if they are able to do it, then it has the potential to change 'everything'.
'It won't be easy. But if it works, it changes everything. A full engine stack, built locally. Powering STOL aircraft. UAVs. Remote connectivity. Self-reliance,' he said in his post.