Tata Steel and TuTr Hyperloop sign a MoA to develop and deploy Hyperloop technology, the future of high-speed sustainable mobility system
Chennai:Tata Steel and TuTr Hyperloop signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA)at IIT Madras on December 23, 2022, to jointly work on development and deployment of Hyperloop technology at scale.The main research areas will focus on key challenges of design and materials selection.
Hyperloop is a future option for high-speed, low cost, sustainable transport system for both passengers and cargo. The hyperloop system has keyelements such as tubes, pods,propulsion systems, and track. Autonomous, levitatedpods travel through a network of evacuated tubes.It promises 10x more energy-efficiency than road transport and aviation, uses 2-3x less spacethan rail and road, and enables shorter travel duration than aviation.
Dr. Debashish Bhattacharjee, Vice President, Technology & New Materials Business, Tata Steel,said: “We encourage and foster homegrown technologies and are committed to drive them towardscommercial success. Globally, Hyperloop holds huge potential forhigh-speed sustainable transportation of tomorrow. We believe that thisdisruptive mobility technology canachieve its stated objective through concerted efforts of TuTr Hyperloop and Tata Steel, leveraging their core capabilities. As a materialscompany committed to sustainable business, we will contribute to finding solutions to critical challenges in the Hyperloop journey by leveraging our R&D capabilities and the Tata ecosystem.”
R Balaji, Co-founder &CEO, TuTr Hyperloop said: “We are delighted to be working with Tata Steel on this breakthrough project. We are currently developing and testing various options to makeHyperloop technology solution a global benchmark in terms of cost and efficiency. To meet this objective, we need to leverage the capabilities of global leaders like Tata Steel. Partnership with Tata Steelwill enable us to solvematerials and design related challenges and drive Hyperloop to become a reality.”
Tata Steel has core expertise in design & development of steel and composite materials. In line with its strategic intent to develop future ready sustainable business, Tata Steel has identified Hyperloop as an opportune breakthrough technology in the area of future mobility. TuTr, a deeptech startup incubated out of IIT Madras, India, is a front runner in this space and is promising a low-cost hyperloop solution as its key value proposition. TuTr has unique strength in pod and propulsion system design. Tata Steel and TuTr jointly aim to design, develop, and scale up the technology for commercialisation. The phase-I work will happen on the 50m test track at IIT Madras. The subsequent work to achieve a 10-km track will be completed in Phase II & III involving a consortium of other industry partners from the Automotive, Construction and Engineering sectors.
