Sayantan Ghati demonstrates the prowess of Pushpak

The mythical Pushpak could fly to wherever its owner wanted. A group of students in a Surat engineering college ? three of them from West Bengal ? have designed a vehicle of the same name that will now see them fly abroad.

Sayantan Ghati, Sardaprasad Gautam, Nilabh Nischol, Gaurav Chatterjee and Rohit Das developed the all-terrain vehicle as a side project during their mechanical engineering course in Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology.

The vehicle has been accepted as the sole entry from India in the Mini Baja West car competition in Portland, Oregon, in the US. ?We started the project a year back and the design was approved in January,? Pushpak designer Sayantan told Metro from Surat.

Sayantan, a final-year BE student, is the only Calcuttan in the group and a passout from St Xavier?s, Calcutta.

Post-design approval, the vehicle took an effort from a group of 25 and an investment of nearly Rs 1 lakh to be completed. The next step is to demonstrate the features of Pushpak at Mini Baja in May.

?It?s an off-route vehicle. The concept is not very well known here but quite popular in the West,? Sayantan said.

There will be several rounds of inspection, including weight and design.

The vehicle will then be put through tasks like rock climbing and weight pulling.

?There will be 83 teams participating from around the world. The top 10 entries will receive US patents and will be commercially manufactured,? Sayantan added.

But the problem faced by the students is of funds. An alumni contribution of Rs 1.33 lakh and a college donation of Rs 2.24 lakh have helped meet the team?s expenses so far.

?But there are huge costs involved, including shipping the vehicle, arranging for our visas, travel and stay,? Sayantan offered.

The students have taken Pushpak around Surat to popularise their creation and in the hope of attracting sponsors. But they are yet to find some response. ?We still need Rs 2 lakh more,? rued the designer of Pushpak.