Hyderabad: Plans are afoot to establish a mining university in the state with Telangana State Council of Higher Education (TSCHE) proposing to convert University College of Engineering in Kothagudem into a full-fledged university.

The proposal was pending for long with chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao who had assured Kothagudem MLA Jalagam Venkata Rao as a pre-poll promise to upgrade the college, affiliated to Kakatiya University, into a varsity. "With Kothagudem being the only coal mining hub in the South, there is a need to set up a technological university with focus on mining, minerals and other science and technical disciplines. We aim to produce industry-ready graduates with first-hand understanding of coal mines and other natural resources in the district," Rao told TOI.
In this regard, a meeting was convened by TSCHE and committee members to look into possibilities of establishing a specialized technological university at Kothagudem. Committee members said Kothagudem was an ideal location to establish a university on account of it being a coal mining hub. "The new university must have multiple branches focusing on mines, minerals and other branches of science besides research and knowledge-oriented studies. There also must be ITI research courses, including skill development programmes," a press release said.


The seven-member committee headed by BR Ambedkar Open University's former vice-chancellor V S Prasad recently held spot assessments of the 397-acre campus to inspect the infrastructure and other facilities in the college. The college currently offers BTech (EEE), BTech (CSE), MSc (Tech) and two self-financed courses in IT and ECE branches apart from the BTech (Mining) course. The new proposal envisages transforming the university into an integrated technical education campus by shifting the Rudrampur-based Government Polytechnic College and the ITI to the university college premises.
According to a media communique issued by TSCHE, coal mining firms such as National Mineral Development Corporation, Singareni Collieries Co Ltd among many others have assured cooperation in finance and other requirements.


The committee is likely to submit a feasibility report to TSCHE by the end of November.