Railways will sanction a third grant to IIT Madras for commercialisation of Hyperloop technology, and also plan on the implementation of a 40-50 km corridor in India, said Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
He made this announcement through a virtual address at the end of the four-day Asia’s first Global Hyperloop Competition, which was organised by IIT Madras at its Discovery Campus in Thayur.
The announcement reinforces India’s position as a leader in next-generation mobility, providing the necessary push toward large-scale Hyperloop deployment, says a release.
IIT Madras, in collaboration with Indian Railways, has been working towards the development of Hyperloop technology along with TuTr Hyperloop, a deep-tech startup incubated at IIT Madras.
IIT Madras and Indian Railways are set to announce some projects at Kolkata Metro, Nilgiri Mountains, which will commence within the next two months. The release said this reaffirms the Government of India’s commitment to pioneering future mobility solutions under Atmanirbhar Bharat.
The hyperloop competition opened with a two-day conference featuring discussions among 60 leading delegates, including hyperloop industry pioneers, automotive and aerospace engineers, industrial designers from NID, and researchers from top global institutions. Experts from the UK, Turkey, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, and the USA explored potential collaborations, technology exchange, and industry synergies to accelerate the development of Hyperloop technology.
The Hyperloop student competition saw participation from nine teams across three categories – Demonstration, DesignX, and Innoquest. With over 180 students from India and abroad, the competition provided a platform for young innovators to present their designs, simulations, and prototypes to a distinguished jury comprising professors from IITs, IISc, and NITs, as well as senior experts from the automotive and rail industries, the release said.
The Demonstration Category featured teams showcasing working hyperloop pod prototypes with LoopMIT from Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, declared the overall winner in this category.
A special mention award was given to Team Nirmaan from Thakur College of Engineering and Technology, Mumbai, the release said.
The event has not only strengthened industry-academia collaborations but has also laid the groundwork for large-scale pilot projects and real-world deployment of Hyperloop systems designed, developed, and deployed in India, the release said..