IIT-Bombay, Oil PSUs ink MoU to set up centre of excellence in oil, gas & energy

India's seven bluechip oil firms including IOC and ONGC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay for setting up a Centre of Excellence in Oil, Gas and Energy.

Dharmendra Pradhan, Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, said, "The centre of excellence will collaborate to research and explore new frontiers of technology to improve quality, productivity and efficiency in the energy sector."

"We aim to develop a mechanism to link up our energy industry and academics and utilise the innovative prowess of our academia to help address our energy requirements with new and innovative, indigenous technology," he added.

Pradhan further stated, "With changing nature of jobs as old jobs are becoming obsolete, new job roles are replacing the existing work profiles. We are on the verge of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (fourth industrial revolution) bringing blockchain, big data analytics into play. IR 5.0 may allow us customized manufacturing capabilities."

The centre of excellence will work in the areas of collaborative research and capability building in the oil, gas and energy sector. It is aimed at developing sustainable solutions and explore new frontiers in technology for future energy needs.