In a novel initiative by the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, 10 oil and gas companies under it unveiled a Start-up programme on 25 October 2017 for entrepreneurs with a fund corpus of Rs 320 crore to be disbursed over a 3-year period to support innovations in the energy sector.
“The people we are partnering today will establish new benchmarks for India. We have to go for out of the box thinking and disruptive frameworks,” Hon’ble minister said at the launch event.
The scheme was launched with Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) being signed by the oil PSUs for partnering with various Start-Ups.
ONGC had earlier announced Rs. 100 crore Start-up fund to foster, nurture and incubate new ideas related to energy sector. ONGC received an overwhelming response with over 2500 applicants registering on ONGC Start-up website.
After several rounds of screening, ONGC selected five Start-Ups namely M/s Red Ginger Technologies Pvt Ltd, Gurgaon; M/s Planys Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Chennai; M/s Detect Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Chennai; M/s String Bio Pvt Ltd, Bangalore & Chakra Innovation Pvt. Ltd, Delhi based on pre-approved evaluation criteria and due approvals.
Laying the foundation stone for the first round of ONGC’s venture into the world of start-up funding, CMD ONGC exchanged MoUs with the CEOs of the five Start-ups in the presence of Honourable Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas at the event, expressing ONGC’s commitment towards supporting a new generation of Entrepreneurs in advancement of Technological Innovation.
CMD ONGC conveyed that the signing of MoUs is the beginning of a partnership with young Entrepreneurs for facilitating disruptions in the Energy Sector in India.