IIT Kharagpur Inks MoU with Oil India Limited
Kolkata, April 13, 2023
Under the aegis of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Oil India Limited on research collaboration in the broader areas of Earth Sciences and Hydrocarbon Exploration on Wednesday (April 12, 2023). The event was graced by Dr. Ranjith Rath, Chairman & Managing Director, of Oil India Limited, senior officials of OIL, Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur, Prof. Amit Patra, Deputy Director, IIT Kharagpur and other senior professors of IIT Kharagpur.
The collaborative Research & Development (R&D) between both organizations will invigorate industrial and inter-disciplinary research and training undertaken at Deysarkar Centre of Excellence in Petroleum Engineering at IIT Kharagpur in Upstream, Midstream, and Downstream segments of the Oil and Natural Gas value chain entailing hydrocarbon exploration, development, production, reservoir management including IOR & EOR, pipeline transportation, sedimentary basin analysis, refining & process technology etc. Further, Prof. V K Tewari accompanied by a team of professors will visit different exploration sites of Oil India to augment areas of research collaboration and project implementation.
Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur stated, “To support innovation and start-up ecosystem for a sustainable future, we need to indigenize, modernize, and renovate the oil refining industry. The focus should be on domestic exploration of petrochemical production capacity. Application of Geo-science, Engineering & Design, Chemical & Process Technologies, and R&D initiatives along with the application of GIS and Remote sensing studies in Oil and Natural gas industry will create investment opportunities through Atmanirbhar Bharat. India contributes 5% share in the global oil demand and has the fourth-largest crude refining capacity in the world. 10% Ethanol-blended petrol which has already been achieved in our country will maximize the dependence on alternative energy.”
On the occasion, Dr. Ranjit Rath, CMD, Oil India Limited remarked, “As a step towards its commitment of ensuring India’s energy security and making India less import-dependent, OIL has adopted a three-pronged strategy of enhanced exploration activities with leap of faith exploration acreage of 50,000 plus sq km pan India; Mission 4+ to expedite & augment domestic production of crude oil & natural gas; and expand its alternate energy portfolio aimed at achieving Net Zero by 2040”. Dr. Rath added, “The MoU is a step towards Industry-Academia collaboration in advanced technologies in earth sciences and hydrocarbon exploration to cater to the growing demands of hydrocarbon exploration and extraction. Through this MoU, both OIL and IIT Kharagpur will engage themselves in various joint research initiatives and advanced technology solutions in the energy sector and other areas of mutual interest.”
