The oil ministry is planning a centralised mechanism to coordinate research and development across India’s oil and gas sector, including project allocation, funding, commercialisation and performance monitoring. The government has sought inputs from state-owned oil and gas companies on the proposed framework.

The proposal would designate the Centre for High Technology (CHT) as the Central R&D Coordination Mechanism (CRCM). The mechanism is intended to align research undertaken by state-owned companies and other institutions with common national priorities, while improving coordination across sectoral programmes.

Under the proposed system, new research and development projects within the petroleum ministry ecosystem would be submitted to the CRCM for assessment through a standardised project-allocation framework. Projects could then be assigned to an entity or a combination of entities considered suitably placed to execute them.

Private companies would also be able to submit research requirements and problem statements for assessment and referral to relevant participants. State-owned companies would retain ownership and execution responsibilities for their respective projects, while the CRCM would coordinate activities and seek to reduce duplication.

The proposed ecosystem would bring together research centres operated by state-owned companies, national centres of excellence, private companies, startups and academic institutions. State-owned companies could focus on fuel grades and energy efficiency, while private companies could work on process technologies and catalysts. National centres of excellence could undertake research in digital technologies, artificial intelligence, compressed biogas and carbon capture, utilisation and storage, with startups focusing on areas such as energy analytics.

The ministry has identified indigenous technology development, leadership in future energy technologies and commercialisation-led innovation as strategic priorities. The framework is intended to strengthen collaboration across institutions and improve the effectiveness of research and development investments in the oil and gas sector.