ArcelorMittal has established a partnership with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), and is working closely with the institute’s Hyperloop Technology team, Avishkar Hyperloop, which is developing cost-effective hyperloop technologies for passenger and cargo mobility at scale. Avishkar Hyperloop is a student team and TuTr Hyperloop is a a start-up incubated at IIT Madras.

ArcelorMittal and ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India are providing foundational steel materials, as well as engineering, design and project management expertise to support the creation of India’s and Asia’s first Hyperloop test track at IIT Madras’ 163-acre Discovery Campus in Thaiyur on the outskirts of Chennai.

Deal with railways

The hyperloop team’s central objective is the advancement and commercialisation of hyperloop technologies for high-speed, affordable, reliable and sustainable transportation. India’s Ministry of Railways is a key partner to this hyperloop technology development initiative at IIT Madras, said a company release.

AM/NS India is supplying almost 400 tonnes of steel for the fabrication of a 400-metre vacuum tube at the site, in which autonomous, levitating pods will be tested at speeds of up to 200 kilometres per hour.

AMDEC, ArcelorMittal’s design and engineering arm based in India, is also posting experienced engineers on secondment to the hyperloop team to help oversee project progress and provide design and engineering expertise during a pivotal stage of the installation process. The test facility is expected to be operational by the end of Q1 2024.

Pinakin Chaubal, Chief Technology Officer, ArcelorMittal, said: “This is a hugely exciting project to be part of. IIT Madras is at the vanguard of deep-tech development in India, and TuTr hyperloop’s technology and tenacity inspire great confidence about their potential to be pioneers in hyperloop, a mobility transition industry in which steel would have an important role to play.”

Aravind S Bharadwaj, mentor of the Hyperloop Technology Development Team at IIT Madras, and co-founder, TuTr Hyperloop, said ArcelorMittal’s partnership for deep-tech initiative will significantly accelerate our efforts to commercialise hyperloop technology. This collaboration between the government, academia and industry has the potential to create an efficient, sustainable, and affordable mass mobility technology in India for the world.

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