Responding to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, the IITs in India have collaborated with Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to develop indigenous technologies to enhance exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons and alternate sources of energy.
A Memorandum of Collaboration (MoC) was signed in New Delhi in this regard on Monday in the presence of Union Minister of Human Resource Development Smriti Irani and the Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan.
Under this R&D initiative, IITs and ONGC will focus on sustained research, development and capacity building aimed at a multi-pronged approach that will help foster research capability and transform experiential based learning in this core sector.
The program will be funded by ONGC and shall take advantage of the available infrastructure and manpower of the IITs and ONGC, according to an official statement from the Ministry.
Core focus areas of the program will be (i) Geological & Geophysical studies (ii) Reservoir characterization, modeling & simulation (iii) Oil & gas Production & Recovery Enhancement (iv) Software Development (v) Unconventional Energy Resources (vi) Engineering solutions/tools & technology development (vii) Alternate Energy researches. Sub-topics have also been identified in each of these areas.
On the occasion of signing the MoU, Irani said the initiative will help realize the full potential of the country’s inherent strengths for making the country a true global leader. “The Ministry of Human Resource Development will promote similar industry – academia linkages on a large scale and will also facilitate engagement of Adjunct Faculty,” the Minister added.
The partnership is complementary as IITs can contribute the theoretical aspects while ONGC can meet the practical aspects of energy business, said Minister Pradhan.
Rajani Baburajan