Goa, 27.10.26 – By NewsIP Bureau – The Centre for High Technology (CHT), under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), has signed 10 MoUs with Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and other national institutes for industry-sponsored PhD research in energy technologies. The agreements were signed at the 29th Energy Technology & Innovation Meet (ETM 2026) in Goa on 27 October 2026.
The partner institutions are IIT Roorkee, IIT Kanpur, IIT (ISM) Dhanbad, IIT Madras, IIT Guwahati, IIT Patna, the Institute of Chemical Technology Mumbai, the Indian Institute of Petroleum Dehradun, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology (RGIPT) Amethi and the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) Anakapalli.
Programme targets industry problems
The programme will fund doctoral research relevant to refining, petrochemicals, critical minerals and energy, with a focus on research that could be commercialised. Its areas include 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; and digitalisation and cybersecurity.
Under each MoU, up to five PhD scholars may be selected each year, with no more than 10 scholars supported at any one time. Across the 10 agreements, the programme could support up to 50 new scholars annually and 100 scholars at full strength. Each scholar will be jointly guided by an institute faculty member and a co-supervisor from CHT or an oil and gas company, and will work on problems drawn from operating refineries and plants.
CHT to fund fellowships and research support
CHT will fully fund the programme. Scholars will receive a fellowship set at 25% above CSIR/UGC rates, along with house rent allowance, a contingency grant, consumables support and a thesis grant. The tenure is four years, with a possible extension of one year.
Intellectual property generated through the programme will be jointly owned by the institute, the scholar and the industry partner. Scholars will be recognised as inventors and may take technologies to market, including through their own start-ups. Selected research is to be advanced for incubation and commercialisation through the MC² pathway.
The MoUs are intended to support broader collaboration between the oil and gas industry and academia, including potential joint Centres of Excellence, testing facilities and training programmes. The ETM 2026 theme is “Accelerating Energy Innovation: From Research to Commercialisation”.
