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started in a makeshift campus, but has still not fully materialised. This even though PVG Raju's heirs have reiterated that they would honour the pledge made by him.PVG Raju's concern for energy self-sufficiency made him take an active part in the debates on this matter. He schooled himself on the technical aspects of oil and gas exploration and argued for increased efforts and expenditure in this area to cut down the excessive reliance on imported crude. He pointed out that the ONGC was drilling to a depth of only 5000 to 6000 feet whereas internationally, the average was around 18000 to 21000 feet. If India's efforts at prospecting were to be successful, they would need to go at least to a depth of 16000 feet. Over time, the depths at which prospecting was carried out increased and the efforts were rewarded by the discovery of substantial reserves in the Krishna-Godavari basin. ONGC has now commenced production from the deep-water KG-DWN 98/2 in January 2024.The next general elections were scheduled to be held in 1984, the year PVG Raju would turn sixty. He had been thinking of retiring from public life and taking vanaprastham, which in Hindu tradition has to be entered into at the age of sixty. Characteristically, once his mind was made up, he did not contest the elections and retired from politics though he was still immensely popular in Vizianagaram and the surrounding areas. 147