Union Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw approved a Rs 8.34 crore collaborative initiative on Hyperloop Technology, proposing a high-speed transportation system, with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, during his visit to the institute on Thursday. The Ministry of Railways' approval follows the submission of the research proposal by IIT Madras for collaborating with the Indian Railways to indigenously develop and validate Hyperloop technology based transportation system and its subsystems. The collaboration is also for setting-up a Centre of Excellence for Hyperloop Technology at the institute - all at a total estimated cost of Rs 8.34 crore.

The minister who visited IIT Madras on Thursday evening, May 19, watched a demonstration on the Hyperloop pod model developed by the IIT students at the New Academy Complex. At the Research Park, he saw the 5G test bed demonstration and later inspected the IIT-M Incubation Cell, which is India's leading Deeptech Startup hub.

Hyperloop is the fifth 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 speeds of more than 1,000 km/h. A team of students from Indian Institute of Technology, Team Avishkar Hyperloop is working on the emerging domain of Hyperloop-based transportation solutions for futuristic commuting experience. The model proposed by Team Avishkar can achieve a top speed of over 1,200 kilometres per hour. "It is completely autonomous, safe, and clean," the Railways said.

Team Avishkar is aiming to build the world's largest student-developed Hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras and is hoping to complete the construction of this 500-metre long Hyperloop facility at Discovery Campus, the Satellite campus of IIT Madras located about 35 km from the main campus, by this year.