Finally, Union Cabinet has given its approval for setting up Indian Institute of Petroleum Energy (IIPE) in Visakhapatnam. The institute will also be an Institute of National Importance, which means that it will have the governance structure and legal mandate to award degrees at par with Indian Institutes of Technology. IIPE Vishakhapatnam will also get ‘Centre for Excellence’ status in petroleum and energy studies through a separate Act.
For setting up Indian Institute of Petroleum Energy, the government of Andhra Pradesh allotted 200 acres of land free of cost. The registration of IIPE as a society under Andhra Pradesh Society Registration Act, 2001 was made on April 18, 2016.
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Apart from giving the approval for the establishment of IIPE, the Union Cabinet also approved a sum of Rs. 655.46 crore as capital expenditure along with a grant of Rs. 200 crore towards endowment fund. Various oil companies will also contribute towards the endowment fund.
The idea behind setting up of Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy is to meet the qualitative and quantitative gap in the supply of skilled workforce for the petroleum sector. The government is also of the view that there is a need to carry out research in the field of petroleum and energy that contribute towards the development of the sector as a whole.
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Sector-related activities will also play a significant role in the development of research. The establishment of IIPE at Visakhapatnam is an added advantage as there is more scope for these activities. The government has planned two sector-related activities that include petrochemical complex at Kakinada and KG Basin, Visakhapatnam.
Until the setting up of permanent campus is completed, IIPE Visakhapatnam will continue to function from the temporary campus that was set up at Andhra University during the academic session 2016-17. The current intake of the institute is 50 students each in Petroleum Engineering and Chemical Engineering streams.