IIT Madras Hosts Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for Tour of Its Research Facilities

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited IIT Madras to explore its advanced research facilities and engage with cutting-edge innovations. Check details here

IIT Madras Hosts Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

Union Minister for Railways, Information & Broadcasting, and Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw, visited IIT Madras' Hyperloop Facility at the Discovery Satellite Campus in Thaiyur near Chennai. Accompanied by IIT Madras Director Prof. V. Kamakoti, Faculty Advisor Prof. Satya Chakravarthy, and other researchers, he reviewed advancements in hyperloop technology. In May 2022, the Railway Ministry allocated INR 8.34 crore to IIT Madras for the indigenous development and validation of a hyperloop transportation system and its subsystems.

Ashwini Vaishnaw also engaged with ePlane, an IIT Madras-incubated startup working towards launching India’s first flying electric taxi at Discovery. He then visited the main campus, where he interacted with researchers developing the SHAKTI microprocessor and students from the Centre for Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras.

Congratulating IIT Madras on its cutting-edge innovations, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for Railways, said, “This place is so full of so much energy that I cannot describe it. I'm so happy to see young, energetic engineers working on this new technology and doing new experiments. We are providing only small help. I think that this will really lead us to some good solutions for the country, for our people, for our start-ups and for the world of technology as well.”

Welcoming the Minister to IIT Madras, Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “Hyperloop is undoubtably the next generation transportation technology that is sustainable, fast and cost-effective. IIT Madras is extremely grateful to the Hon’ble Minister of Railways for his continuous support to ensure the successful development of this technology.”

Hyperloop

IIT Madras has been a leader in hyperloop research for seven years, housing India’s longest student-run test track (422m) at Discovery Campus. It recently hosted Asia’s first Global Hyperloop Competition, supported by the Railway Ministry. TuTr Hyperloop, an IIT Madras-incubated startup, is set to launch the world’s first commercial hyperloop project in India next month, advancing Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047. Hyperloop, a high-speed train in a near-vacuum tube, can exceed 1000 km/h. The concept was introduced by Elon Musk in 2013 through his whitepaper, Hyperloop Alpha.

E-PLANE

The ePlane Company is transforming urban mobility with advanced electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology. Founded by IIT Madras Prof. Satya Chakravarthy in 2019, it develops flying taxis, air ambulances, and cargo utilities for efficient and sustainable aerial transport. As the first private Indian company to receive Design Organisation Approval (DoA) from DGCA for an electric aircraft, ePlane holds multiple patents. Its compact design enables long-range flights at lower speeds by optimizing vertical rotors for enhanced lift. Backed by a team of 100+ experts, including 5 PhDs and 20+ Masters, the company is currently testing a cargo plane for metro cities.

SHAKTI MICROPROCESSOR

Ashwini Vaishnaw also met the team behind SHAKTI, India’s first indigenous microprocessor, developed by the Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering (RISE) group at IIT Madras. Led by Prof. V. Kamakoti at the Prathap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence and Secure Hardware Architecture, SHAKTI is an open-source initiative aimed at creating production-grade processors, complete System-on-Chips (SoCs), development boards, and a SHAKTI-based software platform.

IIT Madras and ISRO recently developed and successfully booted IRIS (Indigenous RISC-V Controller for Space Applications), an Atmanirbhar aerospace-grade semiconductor chip based on the SHAKTI processor.

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