Kishan Reddy to open Rs 9.12 crore facilities at GSI Training Institute Hyderabad

Union Coal and Mines Minister G. Kishan Reddy will open three new facilities at the GSI Training Institute Hyderabad campus in Bandlaguda-Nagole at 9.30 am on Tuesday, 10 November. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) built an international hostel, an advanced geophysical data processing laboratory and a digital studio there at a combined cost of Rs 9.12 crore, the Ministry of Mines said in a release on Monday, 9 November.

The hostel is the biggest of the three. The GSI paid for it from its own funds, Rs 4.27 crore, and named it Nalanda and Takshashila. It has 32 furnished suites, with dining, a gym, a recreation area, a small library and laundry. The ministry said the design followed suggestions from the Ministry of External Affairs, and the rooms are meant for trainees who come to the institute from other countries.

What the lab and the studio will do

The laboratory cost Rs 4.55 crore, shared by the GSI and the NMEDT, the Centre’s mineral exploration trust. It holds 25 high-end computers and software to process, model, invert and interpret geophysical survey data. The ministry said this adds to the capacity for mineral exploration. The digital studio cost Rs 30 lakh, backed by the GSI and the Capacity Building Commission. It will produce recorded lectures, podcasts and online seminars that go on to the iGOT Karmayogi portal, part of Mission Karmayogi.

Trainees from 75 countries

The institute opened in 1976 and is headquartered in Hyderabad. A June 2023 Ministry of Mines release lists six regional training divisions, at Hyderabad, Nagpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata and Shillong, and four field training centres at Chitradurga, Raipur, Zawar and Kuju. It trains staff from Union and state government departments, public sector firms such as NMDC, ONGC and MECL, and academic bodies including the IITs.

Geoscientists from developing countries also train there under the External Affairs Ministry’s ITEC programme. By June 2023, people from 75 countries had passed through its courses, which teach ways to look for lithium, copper, gold, diamonds and rare earth elements, besides remote sensing, geophysics and work on natural hazards. That month the institute received an “Athi Uttam” accreditation grade from the National Accreditation Board of Education and Training.

On Tuesday, the hostel will be opened first, followed by the laboratory and the studio. GSI Director General Dinesh V. Ganvir will give the welcome address. Malkajgiri MP Eatala Rajender will speak next, followed by Kishan Reddy. Farida M. Naik, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, will also attend.