Indian Company Working on Vehicle That Will Run on Land and Water

Ever heard of amphibious vehicles? The ones that run on both, land and water and look like they are straight out of a James Bond movie. Well, India is about to start manufacturing them. Amphibious Designs India Pvt Ltd (ADI), a Goa-based company, together with Automobile Corporation of Goa Ltd (ACGL) will now manufacture amphibious vehicles.

The company - that initiated the production of the novelty vehicles earlier this month - and plans to deliver its first two vehicles in May this year. Interestingly, the sourced over 80 per cent of the necessary parts from the domestic market. As far as supply of these vehicles is concerned, ADI intends to start with the tourism sector in India and will then expand to commercial state transport, central government projects and emergency rescue areas.

Durga Srinivas Tallamraju, the company's project director, said, "The bonus is that at ADI, we have a transfer of technology (facility) happening from the US through our American partners, who currently manufacture and supply to eight countries, including Japan, USA, and China."

As far as the history of amphibious vehicles is concerned, in 2012, Gibbs Amphibians introduced an amphibian that could do high-speeds on both, land and water. Other companies to dabble in different versions of amphibians include Iguana Yachts, WaterCar, and Rinspeed.

That said, this won't be India's first tryst with amphibious vehicles; Tata Motors unveiled its armoured amphibious vehicle - the Kestrel - at the DefExpo 2014. The 8x8 amphibious armoured wheeled personnel carrier was jointly developed by Tata Motors and the Defense Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

(With inputs from PTI)