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Billionaire Lakshmi Mittal-led ArcelorMittal, in collaboration with ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, has joined forces with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) to construct Asia's first Hyperloop testing facility on the campus.
Working with IIT Madras' Hyperloop Technology Teams
The company said it is working closely with IIT Madras’ Hyperloop Technology teams - Avishkar Hyperloop, a student team and TuTr Hyperloop, a startup incubated at IIT Madras, which are developing cost-effective Hyperloop technologies for passenger and cargo mobility at scale.
Providing foundational steel materials
ArcelorMittal and AM/NS 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 at Thaiyur, on the outskirts of Chennai.
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 in this Hyperloop technology development initiative at IIT Madras, the release notes.
When will the facility become operational?
The company said that 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.
What does the leadership say about the partnership?
“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," said Pinakin Chaubal, Chief Technology Officer of ArcelorMittal.
“We are extremely delighted with ArcelorMittal’s partnership for this deep-tech initiative which will significantly accelerate our efforts to commercialize Hyperloop technology. This dream collaboration between Government, Academia, and Industry has the potential to create an efficient, sustainable, and affordable mass mobility technology for the future – from India for the World," said Aravind S. Bharadwaj, Mentor of the Hyperloop Technology Development Team at IIT Madras and Co-Founder, TuTr Hyperloop.
What's next
Following the completion of the proof-of-concept phase, the company said the next stage would be the development of an operational demonstration route for a real-world use case to validate the techno-commercial prospects of this Hyperloop technology.
In July 2023, ArcelorMittal announced that its XCarb Innovation Fund was launching an accelerator programme to fund and support the next wave of breakthrough ideas on decarbonisation emerging from India.
Launched in 2021, the XCarb Innovation Fund invests in companies developing technologies that hold the potential to accelerate the steel industry’s transition to carbon-neutral steelmaking.
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