Prof. Bhabesh C. Sarkar, Former Professor (HAG) and Former Emeritus Fellow in the Department of Applied Geology at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad, and currently, Professor in the Department of Earth Sciences at IIT Bombay, is a Geostatistician possessing over 45 and half years of professional experience with a strong blend of industry and academics.  CV Link

• Geostatistical Modelling, Evaluation and Characterization of Mineral, Petroleum and Groundwater resources
• Economic modelling and evaluation of mineral deposits
• Machine Learning Geostatistics
• AI based Exploration Targeting

Courses Teaching at IIT Bombay:

• Statistical Methods in Geosciences (GS 535)
• Mining Geostatistics (GS 654)

Courses Taught at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad:

• Principles and Applications of Geostatistics
• Mineral Exploration
• Advanced Geostatistics & Exploration Economics
• Mathematical Geology
• Exploration Geology
• Computer Applications in Geology

• PhD in Geostatistics from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London (1985-1988)
• DIC in Mineral Resources Engineering from Imperial College of Science and Technology, University of London (1988)
• Integrated 5-Year MSc in Applied Geology from IIT Kharagpur (1975-1980)
• All India Higher Secondary in Science Stream from Sainik School Purulia (1968-1975)

Academic & Industry

• Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay (August 2024 to date)
• Emeritus Fellow, Department of Applied Geology, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (01 Nov 2023 to 30 June 2024)
• Professor (HAG), Department of Applied Geology, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (30 March 2022 to 31 October 2023)
• Professor, Department of Applied Geology, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (24 Sep 2008 to 29 March 2022)
• Associate Professor, Department of Applied Geology, ISM Dhanbad (24 Sep 2004 to 23 Sep 2008)
• Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Geology, ISM Dhanbad (16 March 1993 to 23 Sep 2004
• Lecturer, Department of Applied Geology, ISM Dhanbad (02 Dec 1989 to 15 March 1993)
• Senior Geologist (RP&D), Hindustan Zinc Limited, Udaipur (01 July 1986 to 28 Nov 1989)
• Geologist (RP&D), Hindustan Zinc Limited, Udaipur (06 July 1981 to 30 June 1986)
• Officer Trainee (Geology), Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited, Nagpur (06 October 1980 to 04 July 1981)

Administrative

• Head, Department of Applied Geology, ISM Dhanbad (1^st January 2010 to 31 Dec 2012)
• Founder Head, Department of Civil Engineering, ISM Dhanbad (30 January 2013 to 14 June 2014)
• Coordinator, Preparatory Course, ISM Dhanbad (June 2004 to August 2010)
• Vice Chairman, ISM Entrance Exam, ISM Dhanbad (2009-2010)
• President, Sports & Physical Education Centre, ISM Dhanbad (Feb 2011 to Feb 2014)
• Professor-in-Charge, Special Projects, ISM Dhanbad (January 2015 to June 2018)
• Chairman, Committee on IIT(ISM)-Industry Institute Interaction Facility at Kolkata (Sep 2013 to October 2017)
• Chairman, Committee on IIT(ISM)-Industry Institute Interaction Facility at New Delhi (October 2015 to October 2017)
• Professor-in-Charge, IIT(ISM)-Industry-Institute Interaction Facilities at Kolkata and New Delhi (August 2016 to October 2017)
• Chairman, Centenary Celebration Committee, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (August 2019 to 31 October 2023)
• Nodal Officer, Artificial Recharge & Rain Water Harvesting Structures, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (December 2011 to October 2023)
• Chairman, Maintenance of Artificial Recharge & Rain Water Harvesting Structures, IIT(ISM) Dhanbad (Nov 2015 to October 2023)
• Member, Board of Governers of REC, Shilchar as AICTE nominee (July 1997 to June 1998)
• Director, All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), New Delhi (July 1997 to June 1998)

• Service Excellence Award of MEAI for the Year 2022 in recognition of extraordinary services to MEAI and to the Mineral Industry of India;
• National Geoscience Award 2019 of Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India in recognition of outstanding contribution in the field of Applied Geology (Geostatistics and IT Applications in Mineral Exploration);
• Service Excellence Award of MEAI for the Year 2021 in recognition of extraordinary services to MEAI and to the Mineral Industry of India;
• Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kharagpur for the year 2020 for outstanding achievements, leadership, contribution to society, and peer recognition;
• Information Technology Award of MEAI-SRG for the year 2018-19 for significant contribution in Information Technology for Mining and Mineral Industries;
• J. Coggin Brown Memorial Gold Medal award of MGMI for 2014-15 for Geological Sciences;
• Master Tanay Chadha Memorial Geologist Award of MEAI for the year 2014 in the field of Mineral Exploration; 
• Award of Excellence of SGAT for the year 2014 for contributions in the field of Geostatistics;
• Narayanaswami Award 2014 of Geological Society of India for significant contributions in the field of Economic Geology;
• Outstanding Leadership Award of MEAI for the year 2014 for meritorious contribution to the Mineral Industry;
• Distinguished Academic Award of IGC for the year 2013 for enhancement and enrichment of the knowledge of Geosciences;
• P. N. Bose Award of the Indian Mining & Engineering Journal 2013 for contribution in the field of Geological Sciences in general and Geostatistics & IT Applications in particular;
• Subarna and Sashibhusan Bhattacharya Memorial Award of ISM Dhanbad for the year 2009 for Innovative Research in Earth Sciences;
• Certificate of Membership in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, ABI, USA, 2003;
• Honorary Appointment to Research Board of Advisors, ABI, USA, 1999;
• Cash prize of £300 for contributing Best Research Paper in Mining Magazine, London, September 1988;
• Citation honoured by Indian Geological Congress, Feb. 2014 in recognition of scholarship, impeccable devotion to work and outstanding contribution in the field of geostatistics and momentous role in developing intimate academia-mineral & mineral industry liaison;
• National Overseas Scholarship, Govt. of India 1985 for PhD research in Mining Geostatistics at Royal School of Mines, Imperial College of Sc. & Tech., University of London.

• SCI Journals: 54
• Chapter in Books: 29
• Conference Proceedings: International: 22; National: 20
• Books published: 03
• Edited Books: 06

Patents Granted (02):

1. Estimation of Ash Yield in Coal An Indian patent titled “Multi-model method and system of estimation of ash yield in coal using mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy” (Application No. 202431065336) was granted on November 18, 2025. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Sameeksha Mishra, Arya Vinod, Anubhav Shukla, Shailayee Mukherjee, Bitan Purkait, Atul Kumar Varma, and Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar.
2. Estimation of Gross Calorific Value (GCV): An Indian patent titled “A novel multi-model method of estimation of the gross calorific value (GCV) in coal using mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy” (Application No. 202531012376) was granted on December 31, 2025. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Arya Vinod, Sameeksha Mishra, Bitan Purkait, Anubhav Shukla, Shailayee Mukherjee, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, and Atul Kumar Varma

Patents Filed and Published (11)

1. Estimation of Soil Vanadium Content: An Indian patent application titled “A system and method for the rapid estimation of soil vanadium content using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework” (Application No. 202531078724) was published on August 29, 2025. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed include Anup Krishna Prasad, Rachna Rakesh, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Arya Vinod, Sandhya Sonker, Tathastu Das, Ayesha Nayak, Suren Nayak, Nirasindhu Desinayak, Ashish Panda, Ashmeer Mohammad, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Atul Kumar Varma, and Akella Satya Venkatesh.
2. Estimation of Chromium Content: An Indian patent application titled “A method and system for the rapid estimation of chromium content in soil using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework” (Application No. 202531074870) was published on August 15, 2025. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Arya Vinod, Rachna Rakesh, Ayesha Nayak, Tathastu Das, Sandhya Sonker, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, and Atul Kumar Varma.
3. Estimation of Carbon in Coal: An Indian patent application titled “A method of multi-model estimation of carbon in coal using mid-infrared Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy” (Application No. 202431076911) was published on October 18, 2024. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Sameeksha Mishra, Arya Vinod, Anubhav Shukla, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Atul Kumar Varma, and Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar.
4. Estimation of Phosphorus Content; An Indian patent application titled “A method for rapid estimation of phosphorus content in coal and ash using mid-infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy and application of machine learning techniques” (Application No. 202531033924) was published on April 11, 2025. The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Arya Vinod, Sameeksha Mishra, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Anubhav Shukla, Nirasindhu Desinayak, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, and Atul Kumar Varma.
5. Estimation of Lead in soil: An Indian patent application titled “A system and method for the rapid estimation of soil lead content using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework”. (Application No. 202531114907, 12/12/2025). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Shailayee Mukherjee, Bitan Purkait, Sandhya Sonkar, Rachna Rakesh, Ayesha Nayak, Tathastu Das, Arya Vinod, Atul Kumar Varma, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar.
6. Estimation of Manganese in Ore: An Indian patent application titled “A system and method for the rapid estimation of manganese content in manganese ore using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework”. (Application No. 202531116056, Published 09-01-2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Shailayee Mukherjee, Bitan Purkait, Nirasindhu Desinayak, Rachna Rakesh, Ayesha Nayak, Tathastu Das, Arya Vinod, Atul Kumar Varma, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Suren Nayak, Dhirendra Pratap Singh.
7. Estimation of Copper in Ore: An Indian patent application titled “A system and method for the rapid estimation of copper in copper ores using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework”. (Application No. 202531133765, Published 16-01-2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Tathastu Das, Ayesha Nayak, Nirasindhu Desinayak, Suren Nayak, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Arya Vinod, Rachna Rakesh, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Atul Kumar Varma.
8. Estimation of Iron in Ore: An Indian patent application titled A system and method for the rapid estimation of iron in iron ores using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework” (Application No. 202531133736, Publsihed 16-01-2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Tathastu Das, Ayesha Nayak, Suren Nayak, Nirasindhu Desinayak, Rachna Rakesh, Bitan Purkait, Arya Vinod, Shailayee Mukherjee, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Ashmeer Mohammad, Akella Satya Venkatesh, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Atul Kumar Varma.
9. Estimation of Zinc in soil: Indian Patent Application titled “A method for rapid estimation of soil zinc content using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework.” (Application No. 27/02/2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are: Anup Krishna Prasad, Shailayee Mukherjee, Bitan Purkait, Sandhya Sonker, Rachna Rakesh, Tathastu Das, Ayesha Nayak, Arya Vinod, Atul Kumar Varma, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar.
10. Estimation of Cobalt in soil: An Indian patent application titled “A system and method for the rapid estimation of cobalt content in soil using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework”. (Application No. 202631040763, Filed 31.03.2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Rachna Rakesh, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Arya Vinod, Tathastu Das, Ayesha Nayak, Kumari Preety, Akella Satya Venkatesh, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Atul Kumar Varma.
11. Estimation of Nickel in soil: A system and method for the rapid estimation of nickel content in soil using mid-infrared FTIR spectral data analysis and a multi-model machine learning framework. (Application No. 202631040739, Filed 31.03.2026). The patent was assigned to the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad. The inventors listed are Anup Krishna Prasad, Bitan Purkait, Shailayee Mukherjee, Arya Vinod, Rachna Rakesh, Ayesha Nayak, Tathastu Das, Sandhya Sonker, Bhabesh Chandra Sarkar, Atul Kumar Varma.

Major R&D Projects

• Development of Mineral Information Database, AICTE New Delhi (1999-2003)
• Advanced Geo-information Modelling Studies, MHRD, GoI (2004-2007)
• Design and implementation of mine based information system, MHRD, New Delhi (2006-2010)
• Artificial Recharge and Rain Water Harvesting, CGWB, MoWR, GoI, New Delhi (2011-2018)
• FIST Level II Project to Department of Applied Geology, DST New Delhi (2012-2017)
• AI based Copper Exploration Targetting, TEXMiN, DST GoI (2023-2026)
• Integrating Domain-Aware Machine Learning for Critical Minerals Prospectivity Modelling (proposal submitted as Co-PI to ANRF, New Delhi)

Consultancy Projects: 31

• Ph.D. Research Supervision: Awarded: 12; Ongoing: 1 (as Co-supervisor)
• M.Tech Dissertation Supervision: 29
• M.Sc. Tech Dissertation Supervision: 98