India is unlikely to go in for hyperloop technology for ultra high-speed trains in the near future because the technology is at a ‘very low degree’ of maturity and will not be economically viable on the present juncture, NITI Aayog Member V Ok Saraswat mentioned on Sunday.
Saraswat, who is heading a committee to discover the technological and industrial viability of the Virgin Hyperloop technology, additional mentioned some overseas corporations have proven curiosity in bringing the technology to India.
“Hyperloop technology as far as we are concerned, we found that the offer which came from foreign countries are not very viable options. They are at a very low level of maturity of technology,” he advised PTI in an interview.
Hyperloop is a high-speed practice, operating in a vacuum in a tube. The technology is proposed Elon Musk, who is behind the electrical automotive firm Tesla and industrial house transport firm SpaceX. “So we have not given much importance to that and as of today, it is only a study programme. I don’t expect hyperloop to enter into our transportation framework in the near future,” he mentioned.
Hyperloop take a look at run was performed on November 9, 2020
The Virgin Hyperloop take a look at run was performed on November 9, 2020, on a 500-metre monitor in Las Vegas in the US with a pod, because the hyperloop autos are referred to as, travelling with passengers, together with an Indian, inside an enclosed tube at greater than 161 km/hr.
According to Saraswat, the affords which got here are at a really low degree of maturity and “we can not make an investment on that kind of a technology.”
Virgin Hyperloop
Virgin Hyperloop is amongst a handful of corporations which try to construct such a system for passenger journey. Maharashtra has deemed Hyperloop a public infrastructure train and permitted the Virgin Hyperloop-DP World Consortium as the unique undertaking proponent for the Mumbai-Pune Hyperloop undertaking.
Replying to a query on India’s reliance on lithium imports from China, Saraswat mentioned as of right this moment, manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries in India is very low, so the dependence is on the import of batteries from China and different sources.
“But mostly it is from China because of competition the Chinese batteries are cheaper,” he mentioned.
Pointing out that India has given incentives for organising battery manufacturing services in the nation, Saraswat mentioned, “Hopefully, next year you will have a couple of business houses going into production on a large scale for manufacturing of lithium-ion batteries in the country.”
Lithium-ion battery import from China
About 75 per cent of the lithium-ion imports come from China. On studies of India speaking to Chile and Bolivia about tapping into lithium mining, Saraswat mentioned there was a suggestion that India ought to go for the acquisition of sure mining services in Chile, Argentina and different locations.
“And what has happened is instead of the government directly going to these countries and acquiring mines, our private sector has already signed business-to-business agreements with some of the companies in these countries and they have already got supply chain agreement for getting lithium from these centres.”
Chile endowed with probably the most lithium reserves, is the second-largest international lithium producer. To a question on the federal government selling methanol instead gasoline, Saraswat mentioned,”We have been able to complete our trials of blending 15 per methanol in diesel.” He mentioned all of the trials performed with Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Ashok Leyland have been profitable.
(PTI)
