The government of the Indian state of Maharashtra has approved Virgin Hyperloop One's plans to develop a high-speed line between Mumbai and Pune, which could become the world's first hyperloop.
Maharashtra's government has announced that a consortium of Virgin Hyperloop One and global ports owner DP World would be the preferred operator to build "the first hyperloop transportation system in the world".
The planned hyperloop line will connect the two cities in western India, which are around 100 miles apart, in 35 minutes. This would be a drastic reduction on current travel times of three and a half hours by car.
Line planned as world's first
"Maharashtra will create the first hyperloop transportation system in the world and a global hyperloop supply chain starting from Pune," announced Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra. "We have just named the DP World ? Virgin Hyperloop One consortium as the original project proponent for the Mumbai-Pune hyperloop project and [are] preparing to start the public procurement process," he continued.
"Maharashtra and India is at the forefront of hyperloop infrastructure building now and this is a moment of pride for our people."

Numerous routes are currently competing to be the world's first operable hyperloop system. Virgin Hyperloop One is also planning a system to link Dubai and Abu Dhabi, while Elon Musk's infrastructure firm The Boring Company has permission to begin digging a t...