Let Hyperloop be implemented abroad first, says Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said on January 17 that the state government will consider pursuing Hyperloop, a futuristic transport system, after it is shown to be practicable in other countries.

He was speaking to reporters after conducting a review meeting with officials here.

The earlier BJP-led government had announced that a Hyperloop would be built between Pune and Mumbai which will reduce the travel time between the two cities drastically. When asked about the project, Pawar, who also holds the finance portfolio, said it has not been implemented anywhere in the world yet. "Let it happen somewhere else. Let it become successful for at least a 10 km distance somewhere abroad," he said.

Asked if the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in the state was thinking of scrapping the project, Pawar said he did not say so. "We do not have the capacity to experiment with Hyperloop. We will concentrate on other modes of transport and in the meantime, if that technology develops more with successful trials abroad, we can think about it," he said.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk mentioned the Hyperloop concept in 2012. It contemplates a system of sealed tubes through which a pod may travel free of air resistance at great speeds.