Chennai, Mar 15 (UNI) Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturay visited IIT-Madras’ Hyperloop Facility, located at Discovery Satellite Campus in Thaiyur near Chennai.
The Railway Ministry, during May 2022, had approved an allocation of Rs 8.34 crore to IIT Madras
to indigenously develop and validate hyperloop transportation system and its subsystems.
Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw also interacted with ePlane, an IIT Madras-incubated start-up that aims to launch India’s First Flying Electric Taxi at Discovery.
Further, he also came to the main campus and interacted with Researchers working on SHAKTI
Microprocessor as well as students from the Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras.
Congratulating IIT Madras on its cutting-edge innovations, Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “This place is so full of so much energy that I cannot describe it. I am so happy to see young, energetic engineers working on this new technology and doing new experiments. We are providing only small help. I think that this will really lead us to some good solutions for the country, for our people, for our start-ups and for the world of technology as well.”
“We will extend whatever support is needed. I am just a message away. I am the 72nd member of
the Avishkar team. Let us be very focused on the quality, safety and how do we scale up this entire experiment once we do prototypes. Keep that ultimate goal in mind”, he said.
Welcoming the Minister to IIT Madras, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, said, “Hyperloop is undoubtably
the next generation transportation technology that is sustainable, fast and cost-effective. IIT Madras
is extremely grateful to the Railways Minister for his continuous support to ensure the successful development of this technology.”
IIT Madras has been at the forefront of hyperloop research for the past seven years, significantly contributing to the field. The institute boasts the longest operational student-runhyperloop test tube and track, spanning 422 meters at Discovery Campus.
This achievement underscores India’s growing influence in the hyperloop ecosystem. The Institute also recently conducted Asia’s first Global Hyperloop Competition, which was supported by the Ministry of Railways.
TuTr Hyperloop, a deep-tech incubated startup at IIT Madras, is set to launch the world’s first commercial hyperloop technology-based project in India next month.
This historic milestone marks a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047.
Hyperloop is the 5th mode of transportation, a high-speed train that travels in a near-vacuum tube. The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach more than 1000 km/h speed. Mr. Elon Musk, who heads SpaceX and Tesla, proposed the idea of Hyperloop to the world in 2013 through a whitepaper – ‘Hyperloop Alpha.’
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