Some foreign companies keen to bring hyperloop tech to India, talks at early stage: Niti member

Hyperloop is a high-speed train, running in vacuum in a tube

Some foreign companies have shown interest to bring hyperloop technology for ultra-high-speed travel to India, but discussions are at a very early stage, Niti Aayog Member VK Saraswat said on Friday.

Saraswat, who is heading a committee to explore the technological and commercial viability of the Virgin hyperloop technology, said the committee has prepared a preliminary report.

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"We have also interacted with some of the companies which are foreign companies, which are already developing this (hyperloop) technology.

"They have shown some interest in bringing this technology (to India). The discussion is in a very early stage," he told PTI.

Hyperloop is a high-speed train, running in a vacuum in a tube. The technology was proposed by inventor and businessman Elon Musk, who is behind the electric car company Tesla and the commercial space transport company SpaceX.

The Virgin Hyperloop test run was conducted on November 9, 2020, on a 500-metre track in Las Vegas in the US with a pod, as the hyperloop vehicles are called, travelling with passengers, including an Indian, inside an enclosed tube at more than 100 mph or 161 kmph.

The Virgin Hyperloop is among a handful of companies which are currently trying to build such a system for passenger travel.

Maharashtra has deemed the hyperloop a public infrastructure exercise and approved the Virgin Hyperloop-DP World Consortium as the original project proponent for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project.