BENGALURU: The state will soon get a National Institute for Petroleum Research near Bengaluru that will officially be named Rajiv Gandhi Institute Petroleum Technology.
Official sources in the Union Petroleum Ministry confirmed this and told Express that the state government has provided 150 acres of land near Hoskote (Kambalipura) on the outskirts of Bengaluru to set up the institute. Union Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan had visited the spot during his recent visit to Bengaluru.
“The institute will start functioning from 2018-19 academic year and it is purely for research in energy policy and science and technology as it is related to petroleum and energy,” said a senior official of the ministry.
The two institutes which are already functioning —one in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Shivnagar in Assam — focus on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. The one which is coming up in Karnataka will focus on research. “This is first of its kind in the country where the institute will focus purely on research related to petroleum,” said the official.
There is another institute being set up in Visakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, but it is an initiative of the state government.
As per the current estimate, the institute which is coming up in Karnataka will cost `1,000 crore. “The institute in Karnataka will be a global thought leader and considering the need for research in the field of energy and petroleum, the ministry has decided to dedicate the Karnataka institute only for research,” the official said.