Seven Oil PSUs co-create start-up fund
Seven Oil Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) including Indian Oil, Gail India, Bharat Petroleum and others have come together to establish a start-up fund of Rs.100 crore. Each of the seven PSUs is expected to make an investment in the range of Rs.10 - Rs.20 crore towards the fund's corpus. The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas will oversee the setting up of this fund.
Funding of start-ups by PSUs
On September 6, Oil Minister, Dharmendra Pradhan had requested PSUs to set-up funds that could holistically nurture innovation in the energy sector. He highlighted investments made by industry leaders like Ratan Tata, Narayan Murthy and advised CEOs of PSUs to establish a platform that can 'incubate ideas for oil and gas sector development.' In August 2016, ONGC announced a Rs.100 crore start-up fund.
Oil Minister's push for 'Methanol' economy
Oil Minister Pradhan stressed the need to move towards a methanol economy in which the technology was already proven and could lead to massive jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities. He believed raw material to produce methanol should be sourced from the domestic market and monetising agricultural waste and bio waste would have manifold benefits. Reducing India's import dependency in this regard is a key priority.
NITI Aayog's tie-up with Methanol Institute
An expert group set up by NIti Aayog will develop a technical road map for adoption of the 'Methanol Economy'; this will include exploration of techno-commercial aspects to facilitate and enhance production through natural gas, bio, agricultural and municipal solid waste.
ONGC leads the way
Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), in sync with the GoI's 'Start-up India' initiative, announced a start-up fund with an initial corpus of Rs.100 crore. The 'ONGC Startup' has committed to creating a comprehensive support chain for companies including seed capital, mentoring, industry linkage and more. ONGC endeavours to create an ecosystem to facilitate growth of energy start-ups and create synergy in innovation.
Oil Start-up: Scope and Aim
The structure and investment policy of the fund are under discussion and a concrete plan is expected by end-2016. The PSUs will connect with IITs and NITs to invest in start-ups that offer innovative solutions for refinery, pipeline transportation, LPG related problems faced by them. Financial partnerships will be entered into with newly established ventures that focus on production, exploration and downstream activities.
