Hyperloop One Working with Indian Government
India’s government is seriously considering building Hyperloop lines on the subcontinent.
Hyperloop One CEO Rob Lloyd was in New Delhi and in serious talks with the Indian government on February 28, Bloomberg Technology reported. The government wants to build Hyperloop on some routes.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government wants to spend $59 billion (3.96 trillion rupees) to modernize the nation’s transportation system. Lloyd thinks Hyperloop would be an ideal solution because of India’s growing population and increasing urbanization.
“India turns out to be a massive opportunity obviously for the concept of Hyperloop, which is why there’s so much interest,” Lloyd told Blomberg. “We want to align the stakeholders to actually find a route that makes sense, to do the detailed engineering, do the work on financing that route, think about a public-private partnership.”
Five Hyperloop Routes Proposed in India
No routes were revealed but the first showcase event in Hyperloop One’s Global Challenge was scheduled for New Delhi on February 28, 2017. At the Challenge teams of finalists will present proposals for Hyperloop routes. A handful of them will be chosen for more comprehensive feasibility studies.
Five potential routes in India were mentioned in Hyperloop One’s Global Challenge press release. They were: a port connector, Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai to Bangalore, Mumbai to Chennai and Mumbai to New Delhi.
There’s a lot of interest in new transportation technologies in India because of the country’s lousy infrastructure. India’s massive population also makes some transportation solutions such as automobiles and air travel impractical.
The Indian government would like to get many of the components for Hyperloop including the tubes built locally. That would give the nation a cutting edge industry and put it at the lead of new technologies.
There’s no indication that Hyperloop One has any support in the Indian parliament which it would need to get a project approved and financed in the nation. Bloomberg did not say if Modi himself was involved in the Hyperloop negotiations. It would also have to test and perfect the technology before moving forward.
The first test of a full scale Hyperloop Pod and Tube is expected to take place in North Las Vegas, Nevada, sometime this Spring. A successful test will probably be necessary to convince politicians to invest the taxpayers’ money in the new technology.
