The foundation stone for the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), popularly known as petro university, is going to be laid at Vangali village in Sabbavaram mandal of Visakhapatnam district on Thursday.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Union Minister of state for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javedekar and state ministers will participate in the programme.

The Union Minister will also inaugurate the Ujwala scheme of his ministry in the State. The institute is coming up on a 201-acre site at the village under the Union Ministry of Energy. The land was provided by the State Government.

Academic adviser and Director (in-charge) of the IIPE V.S.R.K Prasad said a sum of ₹ 800 crore would be spent on the prestigious institute over the next decade. Presently, the IIPE is temporarily run in the engineering college of Andhra University and the first batch of students has been admitted this year.

He said the permanent campus at Vangali village may get ready by 2020. "The construction work on the campus may begin next year," he said.

He said the IIPE was one of the prestigious institutes granted to AP after the bifurcation and "all efforts would be made to make it a world class one, with the state-of-the-art labs and other facilities. The focus would be on research and research would not be confined to non-renewable energy sources alone. Renewable energy sources would be given equal importance."

Prof. Prasad said the oil majors such as the HPCL, the IOC, ONGC and GAIL would be involved in the project. Initially, for three years, the IIPE would be mentored by the IIT, Kharagpur. The institute would also collaborate with some foreign universities, he added.

sarma.rs@thehindu.co.in

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