Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India, visited IIT Madras’ Hyperloop Facility, located at Discovery Satellite Campus in Thaiyur near Chennai.

He was accompanied by Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Prof. Satya Chakravarthy, Faculty Advisor, Hyperloop IIT Madras, and other researchers.

The Railway Ministry, during May 2022, had approved an allocation of ₹8.34 crore to IIT Madras to indigenously develop and validate hyperloop transportation system and its subsystem.

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw also interacted with ePlane, an IIT Madras-incubated start-up that aims to launch India’s First Flying Electric Taxi at Discovery. Further, the Hon’ble Minister also came to the main campus and interacted with Researchers working on SHAKTI Microprocessor as well as students from the Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras.

Congratulating IIT Madras on its cutting-edge innovations, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble 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.”

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw added, “We will extend whatever support is needed. I am just a message away. I am the 72nd member of the Avishkar team. Let us be very focused on the quality, safety and how do we scale up this entire experiment once we do prototypes. Keep that ultimate goal in mind.”

Welcoming the Hon’ble 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 at the forefront of hyperloop research for the past seven years, significantly contributing to the field. The institute boasts the longest operational student-run hyperloop test tube and track, spanning 422 meters at Discovery Campus.

This achievement underscores India’s growing influence in the hyperloop ecosystem. The Institute also recently conducted Asia’s first Global Hyperloop Competition, which was supported by the Ministry of Railways, Government of India.

TuTr Hyperloop, a deep-tech incubated startup at IIT Madras, is set to launch the world’s first commercial hyperloop technology-based project in India next month. This historic milestone marks a significant step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and Viksit Bharat 2047.

Hyperloop is the 5th mode of transportation, a high-speed train that travels in a near-vacuum tube. The reduced air resistance allows the capsule inside the tube to reach more than 1000 km/h speed. Mr. Elon Musk, who heads SpaceX and Tesla, proposed the idea of Hyperloop to the world in 2013 through a whitepaper – ‘Hyperloop Alpha.’

E-PLANE

The ePlane Company is revolutionizing urban transportation with cutting-edge electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) technology. Founded with a vision to redefine mobility, it is developing state-of-the-art flying taxis, air ambulances, and cargo utilities that make aerial transport more efficient, sustainable, and accessible

ePlane holds several patents and is the first private Indian company to receive Design Organisation Approval (DoA) from India's DGCA for an electric aircraft. Its compact design offers long-range flights at lower speeds by using powered-down vertical rotors to enhance lift.

Founded by IIT Madras Prof. Satya Chakravarthy in 2019, the team boasts 100+ experts, including 5 PhDs and 20+ Masters from top institutions. The company is testing a cargo plane for metro cities.

With a strong focus on research, development, and practical deployment, The ePlane Company is at the forefront of making flying an everyday reality.

SHAKTI MICROPROCESSOR

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw also met with the team working on ‘SHAKTI’, India’s first indigenous Microprocessor. SHAKTI is an open-source initiative by the Reconfigurable Intelligent Systems Engineering (RISE) group at IIT Madras.

The aim of SHAKTI is to produce production-grade processors, complete System on Chips (SoCs), development boards and SHAKTI-based software platform. It is is led by Prof. V. Kamakoti at Prathap Subrahmanyam Centre for Digital Intelligence and Secure Hardware Architecture in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Madras.

Further, IIT Madras and ISRO recently developed and successfully booted an Atmanirbhar aerospace quality SHAKTI-based Semiconductor Chip. The ‘IRIS’ (Indigenous RISCV Controller for Space Applications) Chip was developed from ‘SHAKTI’ processor baseline.

It can be used in diverse domains from IoT and compute systems for strategic needs. This development was part of the effort to indigenize semiconductors used by ISRO for its applications, Command and Control Systems and other critical functions aligning with its march towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ in Space Technologies.

IIT Madras has been a leader in RISC-V research and development, with pioneering work on SHAKTI Processor Family, which is India’s first indigenously developed RISC-V-based processor ecosystem. The institute recently collaborated with Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), RISC-V International and industry leaders, to host the Second Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) Symposium on 2nd and 3rd March 2025 at the IIT Madras Research Park.

The DIR-V Symposium 2025 was a crucial platform for defining India’s self-reliance in semiconductor technology, aligning with national initiatives such as ‘Digital India’, ‘Make in India’ and the ‘India Semiconductor Mission.’ This premier event brought together global and Indian experts, policymakers, start-ups, academia and industry pioneers to discuss the latest advancements in RISC-V-based processor design, open-source hardware innovations and India's semiconductor roadmap.

The Institute also played a key role in DIR-V & RKCoE Initiatives such as establishing India’s RISC-V Knowledge Center (RKCoE) to drive RISC-V adoption, education, and silicon innovation. IIT Madras is actively collaborating with the Industry and Government to enable the design and deployment of secure, high-performance computing solutions for diverse applications.

CFI OPEN HOUSE 2025

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw also met the Centre for Innovation (CFI) students and visited the CFI Open House 2025, which showcased 60 cutting-edge tech innovations built by nearly 1,000 students across 26 teams.

One of India’s largest student-run innovation lab, CFI houses 14 clubs spanning diverse technological domains alongside eight competition teams that actively compete in National and International events.

Conducted annually, CFI Open House features products completely designed and built by students. This event offers a unique platform for the projects to gain visibility and attract further support from the Industry and Alumni.

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