CHT signs MoUs with 10 premier institutes for industry-sponsored PhD research in oil and gas

New Delhi: The Centre for High Technology (CHT), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, has signed ten MoUs with IITs and premier national institutes for sponsored PhD research in energy.

The MoUs were exchanged in the presence of Neeraj Mittal, the Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, at the 29th Energy Technology & Innovation Meet (ETM 2026) in Goa. 

Ten institutes sign sponsored PhD MoUs

The partner institutions are:

• IIT Roorkee
• IIT Kanpur
• IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
• IIT Madras
• IIT Guwahati
• IIT Patna
• Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai
• Indian Institute of Petroleum Dehradun
• Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) Amethi
• Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) Anakapalli

The programme will support industry-relevant doctoral research with strong potential for commercialisation. It covers refining, petrochemicals, critical minerals and energy.

This fits the theme of this year's ETM, "Accelerating Energy Innovation: From Research to Commercialisation".

Up to 100 scholars at full strength

Under each MoU, up to five PhD scholars will be selected every year. The cap is ten at any time.

Across the ten MoUs, this means up to 50 new scholars a year and 100 at full strength.

Each scholar will be jointly guided by a faculty member of the institute and a co-supervisor from CHT or an oil and gas company. They will work on problems drawn from operating refineries and plants.

Fellowship and funding

Scholars will receive a fellowship 25 per cent above CSIR/UGC rates. They will also get house rent allowance, a contingency grant, support for consumables and a thesis grant.

The tenure is four years, extendable by one year. The programme is fully funded by CHT.

Research areas

Research will cover:

• green hydrogen and fuel cells
• energy storage, including sodium-ion and redox-flow batteries
• carbon capture and conversion
• crude-to-chemicals, catalysts and polymers
• biofuels
• gasification and waste valorisation
• digitalisation and cybersecurity

Intellectual property and start-ups

Intellectual property generated under the programme will be jointly owned by the institute, the scholar and the industry partner.

Scholars will be recognised as inventors. They will be able to take their technologies to market, including through their own start-ups.

Selected research will be taken forward for incubation and commercialisation through the MC² pathway, including scholar-led start-ups.

Foundation for wider industry–academia partnership

The MoUs lay the foundation for a wider partnership between the oil and gas industry and academia. This includes joint Centres of Excellence, testing facilities and training programmes.