ONGC launches Rs100-cr start-up fund

ONGC has launched a Rs100-crore start-up fund to foster, nurture and incubate new ideas related to oil and gas sector. The initiative, christened as 'ONGC Start-up', is in line with the central government's 'Start-up India' initiative.

As part of this initiative, ONGC will provide the entire support chain for start-ups, including seed capital, hand-holding, mentoring, market linkage and follow-ups. ONGC said the aim of 'ONGC Start-up' is to increase the contribution of fresh implementable ideas in the oil and gas sector.

ONGC said it is also setting up a dedicated website to take this initiative forward.

Launching the initiative on 14 August 2016, on its Diamond Jubilee year, at Dehradun, ONGC CMD Dinesh K Sarraf said it would help promote entrepreneurship among the younger Indians by creating an ecosystem that is conducive for growth of start-ups in the oil and gas sector, which has a huge potential for technology-enabled ideas.

He said the oil and gas sector is contributing enormously to the growth of economy, adding that the sector currently faces various critical challenges and new ideas are required to mitigate those challenges.

To encourage its own employees to innovate, ONGC is also awarding its three young officers for their innovative ideas. Rajendra Bhambhu and Deepak Naik have developed an innovative safety device for rigs that facilitates setting up of an emergency brake to augment safety mechanism on drilling rigs.

Prajesh Chopra has innovated a unique Dual SIM Cellular Router System that provides data connectivity at work-over rigs. This system curtails the hassle of frequent dismantling and reinstallation during rig transportation, thus saving time and money.