Sandur taluk in Ballari district is set to become home to the country’s second and state’s first School of Mining National College. The college is expected to begin operations in the next academic year. The cornerstone of the school is expected to be laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in February.
The Minister of Mines and Geology, Halappa Achar, stated that “Sandur will soon house the nation’s only mining national college. It is an ideal location for a college due to the abundance of mining. I hope construction will commence shortly on the upcoming building for the college.”
The Sandur region is one of the nation’s primary mining regions, and companies such as JSW and NMDC have offices there. Binod Bihari Mahto Koylanchal University (BBMKU), the first mining-related national college, is located in Dhanbad, Jharkhand.
Over 3,000 students attend the institution in Dhanbad, according to a district senior officer. “This is a technical course with similarities to the mechanical, electrical, and civil engineering disciplines. Students who took the CET after their PU examinations in Karnataka would be eligible for the program. It is a broad area of engineering, he continued.
The budget for mining school will be Rs 200 crore
Discussions are currently taking place with officials from both the Central and state government. In the past, we had intended to establish the institution on the grounds of Ballari’s Vijayanagara Sri Krishnadevaraya University. However, it was ultimately decided to use the Sandur campus of a university-affiliated college, the officer continued.
According to another officer, “the District Mineral Foundation will invest Rs 200 crore in building the college. 300 employees, both teaching and non-teaching, will work there. Students will learn about the mining business and do research as a result of the course. Students will soon be able to enroll here for MTech and Ph.D. programs as well,” he continued.