A research-driven private institute based in Salt Lake, which received deemed university status in 2025, announced expansion plans to the US, the UK and Japan.
“We deal with large-scale societal problems where science and technology can make an impact. Having campuses in the UK, the US and Japan will make our international collaborations long-standing and deep,” said Purnendu Chatterjee, chairman and chancellor of TCG Crest, at a news conference.
Jeremy Ghose, president of The Chatterjee Group, stated that Crest UK was likely to open in the second quarter of 2026. “Our ambition is to follow up with Crest Japan in this calendar year. Crest US will be the fourth. These countries have long histories in research,” he said.
The group will generate funds from its 12 companies operating in 42 countries under three verticals — energy and materials (including Haldia Petrochemicals), technology and asset management.
Chatterjee spoke of some areas that Crest was focusing on. “Our sustainable energy institute is working on sodium-ion batteries. Lithium-ion battery is unsafe and inadequately available. Sodium is an earth-abundant material. It will be a renewable energy solution if we can produce a low-cost battery,” he said.
The Institute for Advancing Intelligence deals with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
Being multidisciplinary in approach, Crest has clusters of research embedded in each of its schools. The School of Natural Sciences, for instance, includes sustainable energy, neurosciences and quantum computing.
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference hosted by the School of Health, Environment and Sustainability Studies, mentor and officiating VC Malabika Sarkar said: “We started in 2020 as a cluster of cutting-edge research centres. We applied for university status in the research category in 2024. In May 2025, we got that recognition. This is a university in the reverse model. We have five centres, with the sixth taking shape. We have about 150 Ph.D students. We will now start offering Master’s — not as siloed programmes but around our research areas.”
She also announced the 2026 launch of a school of humanities and social sciences. It will offer innovative courses, like history of art and visual culture, digital culture and history of science.