Mukesh Ambani wants to build a Hyperloop-style transport system and get ahead of Tesla electric cars.
Mukesh Ambani
With “Mukesh versus Musk” a duel of the billionaires is conjured up. The reason for this is that the Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani is now showing a great deal of interest in business areas that are also attributed to Elon Musk.
Mukesh Ambani is not only considered to be the richest man in India, but also the richest man in Asia. His company Reliance Industries recently bought the US company skyTran. This develops a transport system based on self-driving pod taxis.
Magnets
As with Elon Musk's Hyperloop, skyTran should also use magnets to accelerate self-propelled cabins. While Hyperloop moves these pods in tubes, with skyTran they are supposed to hang on a kind of rail that is set up above the streets. With Hyperloop, the tubes could also be built above ground, but the projects are currently more in the direction of underground tunnels.
Hyperloop already has 3 projects in India, Business Insider reports. A railway is to connect Mumbai and Pune. Another project aims to improve the accessibility of Bangalore Airport. The latest project is to connect Chandigarh with New Delhi.
Challenge
Ambani previously held shares in skyTran before he now took over the majority in the company. In 2017, skyTran applied for a tender from the Indian Ministry of Transport to test a pod taxi system. skyTran made it on the short list, along with 2 other companies. It is the only one of the 3 companies that uses a magnetic drive.
Hyperloop does not work with the government for its projects, but with the administrations of the Indian states. The fact that Ambani has now taken over skyTran, which is virtually an administrative level above the Hyperloop projects, is seen by analysts as a declaration of war.
Ambani recently announced plans to manufacture batteries for electric cars. Analysts assume that this will strengthen the Indian electric car industry. They do not rule out that Ambani will soon invest directly in Indian electric car manufacturers.
This is also seen as an attack on Elon Musk. Because according to rumors, he is planning to set up a Tesla Gigafactory in India to manufacture electric cars there. The announcement is said to be imminent as Tesla has already rented offices in India.
