New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The challenge facing India was to ensure exponential growth that was also sustainable, IT bell-weather Infosys Technologies' chief Nandan Nilekani said here Monday.

"India's growth has to be widespread so that it creates a large number of jobs - about 10-14 million a year. At the same time, this growth has to be sustainable," he said in his inaugural address at the first TERI University convocation here.

TERI University chancellor R.K. Pachauri presided over the convocation, at which seven students received doctoral degrees and 36 were conferred master's degrees.

On the positive side, Nilekani noted the Indian economy was growing at 8-8.5 percent, with an investment rate of 30 percent and a savings rate of 27 percent.

"With more people saving more, the economy can only improve. This is not business as usual but a unique position that we occupy in the world right now," he said.

Pachauri too touched on the theme of sustainable development and reiterated that all teaching at TERI University would be geared toward achieving this.

Founded in 1998, the TERI School of Advanced Studies was Oct 5 renamed TERI University.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) had declared the TERI school a deemed university in 1999.

The university offers programmes leading up to doctorates, MSc degrees in environmental studies and natural resources management, an MA in public policy and sustainable development, and an MBA in infrastructure.

"TERI University has been set up as an institution of higher learning to meet the needs of a rapidly developing India," it said in a statement.

"But, as a global institution, while it draws strength from the ethos and traditions of India, it reaches out in sourcing knowledge from across the globe. Its major strength lies in the reservoir of knowledge, experience and research experience of the parent body TERI.

"The academic programmes of the university have been structured around the research experience and skill sets gained in TERI over the last three decades. Having begun with doctoral programmes in 2001, it has gone on to offer various master's degrees since 2003," the statement added.

The doctoral programmes and research centre around four basic themes: natural resources management, biotechnology, policy and regulation, and energy and environment.

To facilitate mutually beneficial exchange of students, faculty, knowledge, resources and ideas, TERI University has a memorandum of understanding with the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies of Yale University; with Australia's Monash University and La Trobe University; Donald Danforth Plant Science Centre of the US and Britain's University of Nottingham.