Indore-based ultra-speed transportation startup DGWHyperloop is reportedly in talks with stakeholders in multiple states over the acquisition of land for Asia’s first full-scale hyperloop test track, according to a person familiar with the deal talks.
Established in 2015, DGWHyperloop was the first company in Asia to have realized the potential of hyperloop technology. The team behind the company has also represented India in global hyperloop competitions as well as winning several awards. The company had recently completed its preliminary study of its ambitious Delhi-Mumbai Hyperloop Corridor project.
Dinclix GroundWorks Pvt Ltd, the owner of the company, is actively looking for lands in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Where the company plans to build a long-range test track and a state-of-the-art ultra and high-speed transportation research center.
Experts warn of an expensive price tag
According to Brad Thomas – a Cincinnati-based transit policy expert, the Hyperloop is a “non-scalable, extremely expensive way to move small numbers of people.” he further wrote “If you’re going to the expense of building a tunnel, just make a subway. Don’t use four passenger sedans.”
In 2016, Vox obtained leaked documents from another hyperloop company Virgin Hyperloop and revealed that the projected costs of building a hyperloop system from scratch were much higher than what was pitched by Elon Musk in his 2013 whitepaper.
The estimated costs were found to be around $121 million per mile, when adjusted for inflation, today the amount would touch $150 million per mile – about five times more expensive than the Rs 1.1 lakh crore Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed railway project. However, these numbers were calculated for a different route and are not from DGWHyperloop.
