Bhubaneswar, Oct. 2: National Law University, Orissa, (NLUO) is set to establish a centre on mining law.

“Orissa has many mines but no experts. For this reason, the state has been losing crores of rupees every year. This can change only when we have experts,” said NLUO vice-chancellor Faizan Mustafa.

The state government has been accusing the Centre of not paying it the actual market value for the minerals from the state resulting in a huge loss to the state exchequer.

“The issue gains more importance on the wake of the new mining bill recently cleared by the cabinet. Our varsity’s new campus will be ready by next year,” said Mustafa adding that the project has already been discussed and approved by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

The varsity has already started a centre for agriculture and food law this year. “We also have plans to set up a school of water law. Changes have to be made at the policy level and this is not possible if we do not have experts. The centre is aimed to churn out lawyers, who will be experts in solving water disputes and intervene in policy level changes required for better water management,” he said.

“However, this project has to wait till the varsity shifts to its new campus since we are in short of space here. Construction of two hostels and half of the academic block has already been completed,” said the vice-chancellor.

The NLUO has decided to join the Common Law Admission Test (CLAT) of 2012. Established in 2009, the university was conducting its own admission test till date.

“The number of students appearing for the NLUO entrance test is doubling every year. However, the varsity’s executive council has taken a stand to become a part of the mainstream law entrance test,” Mustafa added.