New earth sciences university in Telangana to train 2,000 students in five years

Hyderabad: Telangana Higher Education Council Chairman Prof. V Balakista Reddy on Wednesday submitted a report to the Chief Minister detailing plans for the new Dr Manmohan Singh University of Earth Sciences in Kothagudem. He stated that the university will train over 2,000 students in five years and will focus on world-class education and research.

The campus will be located near the Godavari River and the Singareni coal belt. This site allows students to learn directly from real-world conditions involving coal, water, disasters and sustainability. The university will offer BSc degrees in Geology, Environmental Science and Geoinformatics. In addition, it will run BTech, MSc and MTech programmes in Coal Geology, River Science and Environmental Engineering. Diploma and PG Diploma courses in Mine Safety and Remote Sensing will also begin in the first phase.

Research teams will study climate change, water resources, sustainable mining, disaster risk and geo-health. All students must complete a core “Geo-AI” curriculum. This will include training in Computational Geosciences and Geoinformatics. Moreover, the university plans to adopt academic models from ETH Zurich, MIT and Cambridge.

University to partner with key agencies and industry experts

Prof. Reddy said the council will hire 64 faculty members, including professors, associate professors and assistant professors. It also plans to appoint five “Professors of Practice” from NGRI, GSI and Singareni. These experts will help design a syllabus that aligns with industry needs.

The university will work closely with national agencies such as Singareni, NMDC, ONGC, ISRO and NRSC. For the 2025–26 financial year, the council has allocated ₹1,306.756 lakh for the university. Out of this, ₹195.793 lakh will fund laboratories, while ₹1,110.963 lakh will go toward civil works.

To meet funding needs, the university will seek support from State and Central governments, CSR partnerships, student fees, and international donors.