The Panna region of Madhya Pradesh is well known for its diamond mines. Fresh exploration has led to the discovery of Kimberlites (which indicate presence of diamonds) in 15 new locations.

In the Siddhi Singrauli area in the state, a new location with prospects of rich deposits of hematite or iron ore, has been identified.

Both these finds by the Centre for Exploration Geophysics (CEG), Osmania University, Hyderabad, were made in 2018 in collaboration with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC), the public sector unit under the Ministry of Steel, using geophysical exploration techniques.

Active mining operations will be taken up in these locations soon, says Ram Raj Mathur, Head of CEG, which is celebrating its Golden Jubilee year.

Started under an Indo-Soviet bilateral agreement during 1968-69, the CEG was intended to be a high-level teaching institute. It got huge funding and a lot of valuable equipment from the erstwhile Soviet Union, said V.L.S. Bhimasankaram, its founder-head.

In the initial decade, Russian Professors from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute spent months on teaching assignments with the Centre. Similarly, nine teachers from the institute were sent to the Soviet Union and were trained in different, specialised areas of Geophysics, thus, establishing high expertise, he explained.

The CEG got funding and expertise from the Soviet Union and the University Grants Commission. It offered an MSc Tech programme in Geophysics (3 years). After a decade, it has become a department of Osmania University.

Impressive Contributions

The CEG is one of the pioneers in geophysics education in the country. It is ranked high in the international arena, too. After Andhra University, Visakhapatnam, it is the second to offer specialised subjects with post-graduate, doctorate and research programmes, Ram Raj told BusinessLine .

In addition to academic excellence, the CEG made a mark with its researchers discovering a small hillock with magnetic signature or activity on the icy continent of Antarctica, way back in 1995-96. The finding raises prospects of mining and existence of iron ore deposits.

The CEG was part of three expeditions during the 1995-97 period, with half-a-dozen members taking part. The exploitation of resources in Antarctica falls under international rules, hence, further work on their find is with the Indian Government, he said.

Academic Excellence & Placements

Over the past five decades, the alumni have scaled top positions in Indian corporates and institutes such as ONGC, OIL, IOC, NGRI, GSI, as well as MNCs. The placement record has been an average of 80 per cent for many years, he said.

Even the staff have distinguished themselves, with two, N.L. Mohan and N Sunderajan, winning the National Mineral Award in 1995 and 2005, respectively. Bhimasankaram was Secretary, Association of Exploration Geophysics, while Ram Raj himself is currently a member of the expert group on National Super Computing Mission, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology

The CEG has made significant contributions in the area of groundwater also. Its early work in the hard rock areas of Telangana, especially the Musi river project in Hyderabad, and in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, established techniques that are in vogue today. In a way, “Our work led to the creation of the AP Groundwater Department”, Bhimasankaram, who was with the CEG till 1996 said.

International Meet

A two-day international conference beginning on Thursday, with participation of several illustrious alumni from across the globe, will kick off the year-long events at the University Department.

Though on a high at reaching 50, the CEG is at the crossroads, with many challenges facing it. There is a shortage of teaching staff in several departments in the university. It has also seen a fall in placements in the past few years.

The global congregation provides an opportunity to give a push to efforts to strengthen the department, with more funding, teaching staff, research focus and broad-basing the impact in the coming decades, said several past students & staff.

Some of the successful alumni are D Srinivas, Blade Energy & Exploration, US; Krishna Kant Khurana, Institute of Geophysics & Planetary Physics, University of California, LA; N Purnachandra Rao, Director, National Centre for Earth Sciences Studies, Thiruvananthapuram; P Harinder, Principal Geologist, Conoco Phillips, Houston; and N Sastry, former expert, Schlumberger Technology Centre, Moscow and now with Curtin University, Australia.

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