The cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of a permanent campus for the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) in Andhra Pradesh to offer undergraduate courses in petroleum and chemical engineering.
The cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also approved Rs 655.46 crore as capital expenditure to set up the “institute of national importance” in the coastal district of Visakhapatnam.
This is besides the Rs 200 crore contribution from oil companies towards its endowment fund, an official statement said.
“The Institute will have the governance structure as well as legal mandate to grant degrees in a manner similar to that enjoyed by IITs. A separate act will also impart the required status to the institute to become a centre of excellence in petroleum and energy studies,” the statement said.
The government had earlier decided to set up the institute with the objective to meet the quantitative and qualitative gap in the supply of skilled manpower for the petroleum sector and to promote research activities needed for its growth.
“The academic and research activities of IIPE will derive strength from the institute’s proximity to sector-related activities such as KG-Basin, Visakhapatnam refinery and the planned petrochemical complex at Kakinada,” the statement said.
The Andhra Pradesh government had earlier allocated 200 acres of land, free of cost, for the insitute.
A temporary campus was earlier set up for the 2016-17 academic session that runs from the Andhra University Campus offering the two undergraduate programmes with a capacity of 50 students each).
IIT-Kharagpur is mentoring the institute.
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