PUNE: The Pune Metropolitan Region Development Authority (PMRDA) has invited suggestions and objections through a public declaration of the project as Public Infrastructure Project and ‘DP World FZE and Hyperloop Technologies’ as its ‘original project proponents’.
The declaration asks people to submit their objections within 30 days over the projects’ technology or proposed implementation.
The State government has accorded the Pune-Mumbai Hyperloop project the status of ‘Public Infrastructure Project’ and given a go-ahead to award the work using the ‘Swiss Challenge Method’. The method gives private players, which focus on innovative technologies, an opportunity to get involved in such projects and bring their expertise to the table. The government resolution to this effect was issued by the Urban Development Department (UDD) on November 2.
Among the grounds on which objections can be raised are, if the presence of an already ongoing project that is addressing similar public need; if the original project proponent has wrongfully obtained the proprietary intellectual property rights; if the proposed project does not involve substantial new technology or new innovation among others.
The Hyperloop project, a joint venture between the Maharashtra government and Virgin Hyperloop, aims to build a high-tech transport system that will connect Pune to Mumbai and reduce the time taken to travel between the two cities to 25 minutes. Now, it takes about three hours to travel the 200-km distance between Mumbai and Pune.
The State government’s decision to accord it the status of a public infrastructure project gave the project major impetus. In September 2018, the PMRDA had submitted a proposal to the Maharashtra Infrastructure Development Enabling Authority, seeking to allot part of the Hyperloop project work to interested private players, using the Swiss Challenge Method.
The project will begin with a six-month feasibility study and setting up of a 10-km demonstration track, which will start from Hinjawadi. Operations on the completed Hyperloop are expected to begin by 2021.
In February, the State cabinet had cleared the Maharashtra Infrastructure Development Enabling Authority Act, which acts as a framework to allow infrastructure proposals to be allotted to private players using the Swiss Challenge Method.
“This is a specialised and first of its kind project in India involving latest technology and innovation. It aims to bring down the travel distance between Pune and Mumbai to a mere 30 minutes and give the citizens a superfast yet safe travel experience. We have called upon citizens to submit their objections, if any, within a month,” said PMRDA Chief Kiran Gitte.
