KOLKATA | Nov 03, 2016: Bengal is all set to get its own mining institute from the 2019-20 academic year.

The Institute for Mines, Minerals and Metallurgic Sciences will be set up in Asansol on 7 acres of land contiguous to Kazi Nazrul University.

At present, mining courses are offered at only two institutes in the state - IIT-Kharagpur and IIEST, Shibpur.

"IIEST is a state-run varsity. But after BESU became a central varsity, all interested students of the state are not able to get seats in the department. Hence, Bengal will set up its own mining school," said a source in the higher educat- ion department.

She added, "The institute will cater to industrial demands. In the recent coal block allocation, Bengal received the largest number. Therefore, it stands to reason that industrial activities will flourish in the region in future. To synergize industrial requirement with the current batch of technology students, chief minister Mamata Banerjee gave the clearance to setting up of the institute."

The institute will offer courses like BTech, MTech, BSc, MSc and PhD.

"However, the setting up of the school will require some time as it needs to have improved technology, laboratories and workshops," said the source.

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)