IIT Madras students' team receives funding to develop hyperloop technology

NEW DELHI: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras based students’ team Avishkar Hyperloop has received funding and technical support from global pure-play engineering services provider L and T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) for developing their hyperloop project in the domain of hyperloop-based transportation for commuting.

According to a statement from IIT Madras, the hyperloop transportation model proposed by IIT Madras Team Avishkar can go up to a maximum speed of 1,200 kilometres per hour. The team claims that the model is totally autonomous, safe, and clean. The team has already patented a cost-effective hyperloop tube design. Team Avishkar intends to build the world's largest student-developed hyperloop testing facility at IIT Madras. It aims to complete a 500-metre long hyperloop facility this year at the discovery campus, satellite campus of IIT Madras.

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"Hyperloop has been a buzzword in India for the last few years. Several companies have proposed routes including Mumbai-Pune and Chandigarh-Amritsar," says a statement from IIT Madras. This initiative by the IIT Madras students had already won praise at the European Hyperloop Week, held in Valencia, Spain, in 2021.

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"The vacuum tube, when developed, will be the first of its kind in academia anywhere globally and would be on par with the test facility of the commercial entity, Virgin Hyperloop One in the U.S.A. As such, ours would be the only one of its kind available in public, which we intend to utilise to organize international Hyperloop competitions,” said V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras.