New Delhi, Feb. 1: A concept for a flying car developed by an Indian engineer will be showcased for the first time next week at an airshow hosted by the defence ministry.

The car will be an indigenous Maruti that a Bangalore-based technologist hopes to retrofit and accord the capacity to fly, said India’s defence production secretary Raj Kumar Singh, the chief organiser of the airshow.

“It does not fly yet, but we are told it can be made to,” said Singh, who declined to give details. Asked why it should be in an airshow and not in an automobile show if it cannot yet fly, he said: “Because it has the potential to (fly).”

In Hindu mythology, Maruti is another name for Hanuman, son of the wind god, Vayu.

“The idea is not new — there is research going on in the US on flying cars,” Singh said.

About 675 exhibitors from 45 countries have confirmed participation in the Bangalore airshow, which is set to emerge as one of the largest in the world. The exhibitors have reserved space at the rate of $550 (Rs 25,168) per square metre at the Yelahanka air force base.

The idea of a personal flying vehicle as a means to avoid traffic jams is decades old.

In the US, aerospace engineer Paul Moller has spent more than two decades chasing a childhood dream and succeeded in developing a prototype design of a flying car — the Volantor — powered by engines that deliver thrust that allow it to rise.

In November 2009, Moller claimed in a presentation on the Volantor that a two-passenger flying hybrid was technically feasible. Fuel consumption during flight would be 4.6 times higher than during ground travel, and the minimum time from takeoff to cruise speed and land would be 22 seconds, according to Moller.

Aerospace engineers not involved in flying car technologies say while it is technically possible to make a car take off, land vertically and fly horizontally, a key issue will be the amount of fuel it consumes and the cost of operating the vehicle.