Skip to main content

Mumbai-Pune In 35 Minutes Set To Be Reality As Hyperloop Project Is A Go


In an impetus to the dream journey between Mumbai and Pune in under 35 minutes, the Maharashtra government has approved the Virgin Hyperloop One-DP World consortium as the "Original Project Proponent" (OPP) for the Pune-Mumbai hyperloop project -- a move that will generate jobs and over $36 billion in various socio-economic benefits. According to Virgin Hyperloop One, the state government -- one of the first proponents of hyperloop technology in the world -- has deemed hyperloop a public infrastructure project, setting it up to be the first hyperloop project in the world.

DP World (DPW), a global trade leader and a major ports and logistics operator in India, is set to invest $500 million to complete phase 1 of the project, which will certify this new technology for passenger operations.

"Maharashtra will create the first hyperloop transportation system in the world and a global hyperloop supply chain starting from Pune. Maharashtra and India are at the forefront of hyperloop infrastructure building now and this is a moment of pride for our people," Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said in a statement late on Wednesday.

The hyperloop project will link central Pune with Mumbai in under 35 minutes, as opposed to the current over 3.5-hour journey by road.

"The project will create hundreds of thousands of new high-tech jobs, generate over $36 billion in wider socio-economic benefits, and create new hyperloop component and manufacturing opportunities for Maharashtra to export to the rest of the world," said Virgin Hyperloop One.

"Support for hyperloop transportation systems is mounting across the world and India has led the charge to bring hyperloop to fruition since the early stages of development," said Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at DP World and Chairman, Virgin Hyperloop One.

"To be named OPP is an incredible vote of confidence in our ability to deliver this advanced technology to the people of India and enhance their lives," he added. There are approximately 75 million passenger journeys between Mumbai and Pune annually, which is expected to skyrocket to 130 million by 2026.

Virgin Hyperloop One's system can meet this growing demand by supporting as many as 200 million passengers annually. "This is history in the making. The race is on to host the first hyperloop transportation system in the world, and the announcement puts India firmly in the lead," said Jay Walder, CEO at Virgin Hyperloop One.

"Once commercialised, it will transform the Pune-Mumbai corridor into a mega-economic region, moving people and cargo between these two centres in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.

"This process creates a blueprint for a hyperloop network spanning the entire nation. We would like to thank the government of India, the state of Maharashtra and the partnering agencies for getting the project from vision to reality," said Harj Dhaliwal, Managing Director of India and Middle East, Virgin Hyperloop One.

Virgin Hyperloop One has projects underway in Missouri, Texas, Colorado, North Carolina, the Midwest, India, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

Last month, Avishkar Hyperloop -- a student team from IIT Madras -- met Virgin Hyperloop One Co-founder Josh Geigel who praised India's effort to be the frontrunner in hyperloop technology.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cannot Wait for Dark Mode on WhatsApp? Here is How to Enable it on Android and iOS

What good is an app that doesn’t do a Dark Mode these days? Facebook Messenger does it, Amazon Kindle app has it and even the next iterations of the iOS and Android operating systems are focusing extensively on the darker side of things. That does make us wonder why the details about the final release of the much-awaited Dark Mode on WhatsApp for Android and iOS devices is still not confirmed. The most popular instant messaging app in the world may be rolling out a stream of updates and new features with very beta and final release over the past few month, but it could just be that it is waiting for the final release of iOS 13 and Android Q to roll out the Dark Mode goodness. However, if you really don’t want to wait, there are workarounds to get Dark Mode working on WhatsApp on your Android phone or iPhone, right away. If you are using an Android phone, you will need to be running a beta version of Android Q to enable the Dark Mode for WhatsApp. A lot of Android phones...

Airtel is offering free Hello Tunes to prepaid, postpaid users: Here’s how to get it

Airtel customers can now set their favourite songs as Hello Tunes for free through Wynk Music app(REUTERS) Airtel continues to offer freebies to its users under ‘Airtel Thanks’ programme. The latest is free Hello Tunes for its postpaid and prepaid customers. The benefit is available to all Airtel customers with plans of Rs 129 and above. Airtel users can get a new Hello Tune via the company’s Wynk music application. Users can change their Hello Tune as many times they want. Users, however, will have to renew the ‘Hello Tunes’ subscription through Wynk Music every 30 days. With the latest bundle, users will no longer have to pay monthly subscription charge of Rs 36 for caller tunes. How to get free Hello Tunes Step 1: Airtel users need to download the latest version of Wynk Music or update the existing app to the latest version. Step 2: Open the app, tap on ‘Hello Tunes’ icon on the top right hand corner of the screen. Step 3: Choose the song and set it as Hello T...

US government to issue licenses to companies wanting to trade with Huawei

In the development of the Huawei-US trade tensions, the US Department of Commerce will begin issuing special licenses to companies that wish to keep their business ties with the Chinese tech giant. The news was confirmed by the head of the Commerce of Department Wilbur Ross at the Annual Security Conference on Export Controls and Security. Late last month at the G20 summit, US president Donald Trump  confirmed  American companies will continue to sell components to Huawei granted that they doesn’t pose a threat to national security. Later on it became  clear  that US companies would be allowed to sell widely available components which are sold in other markets while more sensitive equipment would remain off limits. Commerce Secretary Ross stated that the new licenses will still have to oblige the previously issued component availability confinements. Furthermore, he restated that the Commerce Department will only issue licenses after evaluating the ...