The Petroleum University, along with 10 oil and gas companies have launched a startup programme for entrepreneurs with a fund corpus of Rs 320 Crore. The initiative was launched with a memorandum of understanding signed by 36 startups for partnering with various state-run firms like Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum, and GAIL India. Speaking at the launch event, Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “The people we are partnering will establish new benchmarks for India. We have to go for out of the box thinking and disruptive frameworks.” Pradhan said India could not afford to miss out on the ongoing Industrial Revolution 4.1 that signifies the changes being wrought by information technology.
Being the third-largest energy consumer in the world with an annual oil import bill of Rs 7 Lakh Crore, Pradhan said India urgently needed to act on import substitution. “Oil import substitution can best come through alternate fuels, which can only be developed through innovation and new business models.” He said the programme is based on the premise that “oil and gas companies have the required technical acumen and financial strength to act as venture capitalists to talented entrepreneurs who wish to build businesses.”
