New Delhi: Oil India Limited (OIL) has signed MoU with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati for the company’s start up initiatives. Also, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has signed  MoU with IIT Bombay  for ONGC Start Up initiative.  These MoU along with other nine MoUs have been signed today (07 December 2016) during PETROTECH 2016. In the Petrotech-2016, on the last day today 11 memorandum of understandings were signed.

OIL and Technology Incubation Centre, IIT Guwahati: Under this MoU, Technology Incubation Centre (TIC), IIT-G will serve as an incubator with respect to housing and mentoring start-ups as per OIL Start-Up Initiative.

MoU with IIT Mumbai for supporting ONGC’s Start-Up Initiative: ONGC has launched a Rs. 100 crore start up fund on its diamond Jubilee year to foster, nurture and incubate new ideas related to oil & gas sector. The initiative, christened as ‘ONGC Start Up’ is in-line with GoI initiative ‘Start Up India’.  This MoU intends to prepare a roadmap for ONGC’s start Up initiative which will work on problems related to the energy sector and for enhancing the operational capabilities of ONGC.

During the Petrotech-2016, another nine MoUs are signed.  A consortium agreement between IOCL, BPCL and HPCL, intending to set up India’s biggest oil refinery cum petrochemical complex with a ~60 MMTPA capacity along the western Coast of India in the State of Maharashtra, and for setting up 5 2G ethanol plants in various parts of the country. Union Ministers Mr Nitin Gadkari, Mr Piyush Goyal, Mr Anil M. Dave and Mr Dharmendra Pradhan were present during the ceremony.

Portals were also launched by ONGC, OIL and IOCL under “Start-Up India”. ‘Start-Up India’ initiative was launched by the Prime Minister of India on January 16, 2016.  The initiative aims at fostering entrepreneurship and promoting innovation by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of Start-ups.  In pursuance of this, the CPSEs under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas were directed to facilitate/ create an Innovation ecosystem and promote Start –Ups in their respective fields through various means including setting up of incubation centres.

The CPSEs have committed over Rs 300 crores funding for encouraging and supporting Start Ups. In order to attract the best talent, the CPSEs launched websites/portals on the same, with the aim of helping build and nurture a successful Start Up ecosystem.