SVU Launches M.Tech In Materials And Mineral Processing

Sri Venkateswara University (SVU), Tirupati, has introduced an M.Tech programme in materials and mineral processing, with 20 seats, to train engineers in mineral processing and advanced materials technologies.

The programme comes at a time when minerals such as lithium, graphite, nickel, cobalt, copper and rare earth elements are becoming important for electric vehicles, batteries, renewable energy, semiconductors, electronics, aerospace, defence and advanced manufacturing.

The course is being offered by the department of chemical engineering, SVU College of Engineering, in collaboration with IIT Hyderabad on a self-supporting basis. It is the first programme of its kind in Andhra Pradesh.

Students will be trained across the mineral to material value chain, covering mineral characterisation, beneficiation, separation, extraction, processing, purification, recycling and value addition.

The programme is also aligned with the national focus on critical minerals. The National Critical Mineral Mission seeks to strengthen the country's capabilities in exploration, mining, beneficiation, processing, recycling, research and technology development, besides creating specialised human resources.

The course has particular relevance to AP, which has a diverse mineral resource base and extensive coastal deposits of heavy mineral sands. These deposits contain ilmenite, rutile, zircon, garnet, sillimanite and monazite, which are associated with titanium, zirconium and rare earth elements.

SVU vice-chancellor Prof. Tata Narasinga Rao said the university needed to prepare students for industries that are expected to play a larger role in the coming decades.

“The world is moving from merely securing mineral resources to securing the technologies required to process them and convert them into high-value advanced materials. Creating specialised technical manpower in materials and mineral processing is therefore the need of the hour", he said.

He said the collaboration with IIT Hyderabad would strengthen the academic and research orientation of the programme and provide students exposure to emerging developments in materials and mineral processing. He said the programme carries a fee of `1,45,170. Admission will be through APPGECET 2026, with eligible engineering graduates able to exercise their options during counselling.