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This article is written by Shobhna Aggarwal, a student of Banasthali Vidyapith. This article will give a brief of the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy Act, 2017.

Introduction 

The Indian Institute of Petroleum & Energy Act, 2017 is an Act which is for establishing the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) at Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. A bill for the same was introduced on 18th July 2017 under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas i.e.- The Indian Institute of Petroleum & Energy Bill, 2017 by Minister – Dharmendra Pradhan in Lok Sabha (04.08.2017) and was passed by Rajya Sabha (27.12.2017) and received its Presidential assent on January 5, 2018.

Object, nature, and future scope

The Bill establishes the declaration for the Institute as being set up as an institution of national importance. The goal of the Institute is basically to provide high-quality education and research on oil, hydrocarbon, and issues related to energy. The Institute provides for high-quality education in all facets of traditional hydrocarbons and conducts more studies. In parallel, the Institute will aggressively undertake the research and development in these fields to pursue and to retain leadership positions in Indian and world energy as the energy sector is changing and non-conventional hydrocarbons as well as new sources, like Liquefied Natural Gas and biofuels, as well as the renewable energy sector, is gaining market share.

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It proposes creating the Petroleum and Energy Institute and stating that it is a nationally relevant institution. The future scope for it is broad as in order to foster worldwide technological capabilities that are capable of serving as pioneers and innovators in the fields of petroleum technology and oil, the Institute is intended to be a domain-specific energy institution. Institute will also be granted the requisite status by a separate Act to become a “Centre of Excellence” in petroleum and energy studies.

Important provisions of the Act

The Act creates core governance and administration authorities in the Indian Petroleum and Energy Institute. The Institute’s source of funding includes funds that are collected from the Central Government, fees and further cash received from other sources (i.e. gifts and grants) and accounts are audited by the Comptroller and Auditor (CAG) of India. Further, some important provisions of the Act are:

 Section 14– Authorities of the Institute

The key authorities of the Institute are given below:

(i) The General Council- to review from time to time the broad policies and programs of the Institute and suggest measures for the improvement, development, and expansion of the Institute

(ii) The Board of Governors-which will be responsible for the general superintendence, direction, and control of the affairs of the Institute.

(iii) The Senate; and

(iv) Any other authorities declared by the statutes- that is to confer power upon the central government to frame the first Statutes and first Ordinances of the institute and thereafter, the Board may make new or additional Statutes or amend or repeal the Statutes, and the Senate to have the power to make Ordinances. 

Section 10– Composition and powers of the Board of Governors

The Board of Governors will consist of 13 members that include:

(i) the President (that is to be appointed by the central government);

(ii) the Director of the Institute;

(iii) two persons from the Board of Directors of companies that will contribute to the Institute’s endowment fund (which is to be nominated by the central government);

(iv) five eminent experts in the field of petroleum technology and energy; and

(v) Two professors of the Institute.

Powers of the Board of Governors include

(i) To establish study courses and establish proficiency levels and other academic distinctions; (ii)Consideration of plans for Institute loans;(iii)The establishment of the university, administrative, technical, and other positions; and (iv) Fixing for the fees and other charges for the institution.

Section 15– Composition and powers of the General Council

The Council will have up to 20 members including the:

(i) Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (Chairman);

(ii) Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Limited;

(iii) Secretary, Oil Industry Development Board; and

(iv) Principal Advisor (Energy), NITI Aayog.

  • The powers of the Council include

(i) Revision of the Institute’s general policies and programs; (ii) Consulting the board with regard to emerging energy and hydrocarbon technologies; and (iii) Proposing reforms in the Institute’s fiscal management.

Section 17– The Senate

The Senate is the primary academic body for upholding the Institute’s quality of education and review. The academic body is responsible for the maintenance of standards of instructions to be given, education, and also the examination in the Institute.

Section 20– Appointment of the Director

The central government shall name the Director of the Institute. The Director will be the Institute’s principal academic and manager.

Section 24– Funding

The Institute is required to maintain a fund that receives support, fees, and money from any other sources (subventions and gifts) from the central government. The Institute accounts shall be audited by the Indian Controller and Auditor General.

Section 42– Resolutions of Differences

Any disagreement resulting from an arrangement between the Institute and its employees shall be referred to a Tribunal of Arbitration which is internally formed. The Tribunal will have:

(i) One member that will be appointed by the Institute;

(ii) One member that will be nominated by the employee; and

(iii) An umpire would be appointed by the visitor.

The decision of the Tribunal of Arbitration will be considered as the final one. Then after in case of any dispute, if it arises between the Institute and the central government, the decision of the central government will be considered as the final one.

Issues and challenges in implementations

On 8 January 2018 the 2017 Indian Petroleum and Energy Institute Act (2018 No 3) was notified in the Indian Gazette. The following Notice of the 2017 Gazette with effect from 22 January 2018 on the implementation of the IIPE Act was released on 17.1.2018. IIPE’s First Statutes were formed in the Gazette of India on 17 December 2018 and notified. The establishment of the Institute involves the total capital expenditure of Rs. 655 cores and an endowment fund which is of Rs. 400 crores. In the sense of the package promised by the Centre to Andhra Pradesh after Telangana has been carved out, at a cost of 650 cores and the institute was built in Visakhapatnam which was seen to be an outcome of a major challenge. The enactment of the bill and passing of the act do not have any issues but the problem seemed to be about funding and allocation of resources and its implementation at the right place.

For its implementation, In the Sabbavaram Mandal district of Visakhapatnam, the Government of Andhra Pradesh has allocated 200 acres free of charge of the land. In January 2019, the land was handed over to IIPE, and follow-up steps are underway. A transitional IIPE campus, managed by IIT Kharagpur, has been built. IIPE’s activities in academic and research draw from its closeness to sectoral activities such as KG-Basin, the refinery of Visakhapatnam, and the proposed petrochemical complex in Kakinada. KG’s basin has more capital than the gas field in Mumbai, adding that it also faced its own indirect challenges. The monetization of resources would have a practical effect on the actions needed for qualitative human resources.

The validity of the Act

The Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh is an institution registered under the Andhra Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2001, shall be a body corporate having perpetual succession and a common seal with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire, hold and dispose of the property and to contract, and shall, by that name, sue and be sued.

Further, Acts and proceedings are not to be invalidated by the vacancies. No act of the Institute or the General Council or Board or Senate or any other body set-up under this Act or the Statutes shall not be invalid merely by reasons of—

(a) Any vacancy in, or defect in the constitution thereof, or

(b) Any defect in the election, nomination, or appointment of a person acting as a member thereof, or

(c) Any irregularity in its procedure not affecting the merits of the case.

Advantages of having such enactments in the modern era

In order to pursue and retain a leadership role in the Indian and global energy arena, the Institute actively will pursue research and expand in this area. In the modern age, such actions would include high-quality education and perform advanced research in all aspects of traditional hydrocarbons. The Institute’s curriculum is suggested to be specialized and will include postgraduate and Ph.D. programs. Petroleum and energy research is a key operation. ITPE is one of the most renowned institutes at the national and international levels. These regulations will yield positive outcomes with future expectations.

How do students benefit from the Act?

In order to foster worldwide technological capabilities that are capable of serving as pioneers and innovators in the fields of petroleum technology and oil, the Institute is intended to be a domain-specific energy institution. The students benefit from high-quality education and study into all facets of traditional hydrocarbons. It has been actively involved in research and development in the fields of liquefied natural gas, biofuels, and renewable energy. In petroleum and energy, research is a key operation. ITPE is one of the most renowned institutes at the national and international levels. The students are chosen according to the JEE Advanced ranks.

IIPE has connected with the IIT selection board at each academic meeting commencing on August 1st, 2016 to select candidates. Thus IIPE was linked to IIT Delhi for selecting applicants for the next academic year 2020-21. Two undergraduate courses are provided by the Indian Institute of Petroleum and Oil- Oil and chemical engineering. The first round of work started in the first week of August for the 2016-17 university sessions. Four lots are now approved and the fifth load is currently being admitted in 2020-21. All the students on campus have classrooms, seminars, e-library, and Wi-Fi access.

Within a span of time, IIPE joined academic MoU’s (Memorandum of Understanding) for research cooperation, teaching exchange, student internships, etc. with Texas A & M University, USA, and the University of Houston, USA. The goal of IIPE is to learn, experience and implement and inculcate the same in the students, and with the futuristic impact, youth will be benefited from the same.

Recent protests for the failure of campus protest

With the better demonstrations and foundation of any organization, it joins part of difficulties and disappointments. In IIPE additionally, the ongoing dissent made understudies stress over their guarantees that are not kept. Understudies state that the establishment, which is advanced by the Ministry and has significant oil and flammable gas. PSUs (Public Sector Undertakings) as its partners have missed the mark concerning its guarantee made to understudies during its beginning. Understudies at the esteemed Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE) are a stressed part after just two enrolment specialists turned up for grounds determinations, and employing just six understudies out of a group of 92 understudies.

The main group of B.Tech understudies at IIPE will move on from the establishment in May this year, and the understudies are set up to brawl against the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and are wanting to organize a quiet dissent on the grounds as arrangements have been a long way from acceptable.

Up until this point, HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited) has selected just five understudies from the synthetic designing stream, while Infosys, from the non-center area, has enrolled one student in 2016, IIPE began with two standards of B.Tech (Petroleum) and B.Tech (Chemical), and 46 undergraduates were conceded into each stream, in view of IIT/JEE (Advance) positions.

The dissent by understudies deplored that practically all IITs and other significant oil establishments, for example, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Petroleum Technology in Jais, Uttar Pradesh, and Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, have finished their enlistment conventions by December 2019, and the organizations are yet to go to our foundation.

Need for an institution of national importance

India is one of the quickest developing nations on the planet. With the development in populace and improvement in financial turns of events, India’s energy request is relied upon to rise thusly. Significant advancement has been made in improving energy access in the nation in the ongoing years. India’s energy vision revolves around energy access, energy productivity, energy supportability, and energy security. It is essentially worried about the investigation and creation of oil and flammable gas, refining, appropriation, advertising, import, fare, and preservation of oil-based goods. India today is the third biggest buyer of energy. It is the third biggest shopper of unrefined petroleum on the planet. Essentially, India is the fourth biggest purifier of unrefined petroleum on the planet and it is likewise the nation with the third biggest number of vehicles utilizing CNG. Both oil and flammable gas are assembled to add to 36.2 percent of India’s essential energy utilization in 2018.

Accordingly, oil and gaseous petrol will keep on assuming a basic function for a long time to come. In this scenery, the order of the Ministry and the activities taken by it towards accomplishing the needs and the institution of the IIPE demonstration is one of their progression towards organizing the issue with respect to public significance. What’s more, there was a need to set up a foundation of public significance. To be pronounced as an organization of public significance, the IIPE would give top-notch instruction and lead progressed research in all viewpoints identifying with the traditional hydrocarbons, as per the objects and reasons of the bill. Among others, the organization would effectively seek innovative work in the fields, for example, melted flammable gas, biofuels, and renewable energy. Such a status for the organization would make it ready for quality instruction and exploration expected to adapt the oil and gas assets accessible in the district

Critical analysis

A solid requirement for setting up space explicit Institute perceiving the difficulties to meet the quantitative hole in gracefully gifted labor for the business just as for research in arising territories like Shell Gas, Coal Bed Methane, Gas Hydrates, Renewable Energy and Gas and so on has been felt. Additionally, thinking about the quick advancements and improvements of new innovation in the energy area, the IIPE is required to stay up with new advancements with sufficient space to develop. Thinking about this, Visakhapatnam is felt like the correct area for setting up IIPE.

Visakhapatnam is the correct spot for this foundation and it holds a significant situation in India as Houston in America, the clergyman stated, adding that in the coming days, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, and Rajahmundry could turn into the Houston of India. To be announced as a foundation of public significance, the IIPE would give excellent instruction and direct progressed research in all perspectives identifying with the customary hydrocarbons, as per the Objects and Reasons of the Bill. It will have a cutting edge.  Youth will profit, adding that it would cover both traditional and non-ordinary types of energy.

Suggestions

The Institution draws its energy moving the institutional collaboration eagerly to understand the results of vision, mission, and quality strategies morally cherished to lead the arms in the space of assorted energy expansion across stages through forward-thinking customized industry prepared educational plan and guided contemporary advancements bore under the oversight and premonition of the generally watchful and ambitious workforce. The organization must view the practical methodology in accomplishing its dreams and mission. The ground arrangements of such an organization are a significant part and the foundation must work upon substantially more overdrawing in great organizations for enrolment rather than changing educational plans and making dubious designations over spending plans.

References

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