It was reported in November 2020 that the National Institution for Transforming India, (NITI) Aayog is exploring the prospects of technological and commercial viability of the virgin hyperloop technology for ultrahigh-speed travel in India.
NITI Aayog appointed an expert committee with V.K. Sarawat as its chairman and advisor (Infrastructure Connectivity, NITI Aayog) and Sudhendu Jyoti Sinha as convener. Its other members include Chairman and Chief Executive of the Railway Board, V.K. Yadav, the secretaries of the ministries of Housing and Urban Affairs, Road Transport and Highways, Maharashtra Government’s Transport Secretary, Chairman of The Defence Research and Development Organisation, Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Director of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, and the Chairman (Technology Information) of the forecasting and assessment council. The committee may also invite domain experts and representatives from various organisations who, they think, would give valuable inputs regarding the project. The report of the expert committee could act as a roadmap for drafting the way forward for hyperloop in the country.
The expert committee would conduct detailed study of the virgin hyperloop technology, its commercial and financial viability, safety standards and regulations, etc., and submit its report to the Government of India within six months’ time of its first meeting.
Virgin Hyperloop Technology
Elon Musk of the electric car company, Tesla and the commercial space transport company, SpaceX, is behind the invention of Hyperloop technology.
The Virgin Hyperloop is one among the few companies which are in the process of developing the high speed technology system for passenger travel called the hyperloop. With hyperloop, the vehicles accelerate gradually through electric propulsion along a low-pressure tube. The pod (name of the hyperloop vehicles) floats along the track using magnetic levitation and glides at airline speeds for long distances due to ultra-low aerodynamic drag. It could attain speeds of over, around 1126.5 kmph an hour in floating pod which runs along inside giant low pressure tubes, above or below ground.
The virgin hyperloop technology completed its first test run on a 500-m track with a pod in Las Vegas, USA in November 2020. The test run was conducted with passengers inside the pod, inside an enclosed tube. The speed of the vehicle was measured at more than 161 kmph. Following this test run, the Government of India took the lead to explore the prospects of virgin hyperloop technology in India through NITI Aayog.
Implementation in India
Maharashtra has already deemed hyperloop as a public infrastructure exercise and approved the Virgin Hyperloop-DP World Consortium as the original project promoter for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project. In October 2020, Bangalore International Airports and Virgin Hyperloop had entered into a partnership to conduct a feasibility study for a proposed hyperloop corridor from the airport.