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Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), Dr Neeraj Mittal, along with heads of major oil and gas PSUs and Chairman, bp India, launched MC²+ IGNITE at IIT Madras. The accelerator will support deep-tech startups developing energy sector technologies.
The programme will select around 30 startups. Each selected venture is eligible for milestone-linked convertible funding of up to INR 2 crore, along with access to pilot sites, industry expertise, research infrastructure and mentoring.
MC²+ IGNITE has been set up by MC² Foundation, formed to connect technology problem statements from India’s oil and gas companies with academic institutions, research organisations and startups.
Dr Mittal, who chairs the Foundation, said it was created to address duplication in technology development across the energy sector. “Several of our companies can be working on the very same catalyst at the same time. That is duplication of work of investment and of bureaucracy,” he said.
The programme operates as a decentralised platform with its hub in Delhi and nodes at participating oil and gas companies, including their R&D centres, giving startups access to operating assets and real-world pilot sites.
Partner institutions include IIT Madras, IIT Kanpur, IIT Kharagpur, C-CAMP and Venture Center, Pune, providing access to laboratories, infrastructure and technical mentoring.
Applications for the inaugural cohort opened August 5 and will close on August 31, 2026. The selected 30 startups will be announced on September 15, 2026.
The launch was attended by Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman & CEO, ONGC; Ranjit Rath, CMD, Oil India Ltd; A S Sahney, Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation Ltd; Sanjay Khanna, CMD, BPCL; Vikas Kaushal, CMD, HPCL; Atul Gupta, CMD, Engineers India Ltd; Madhukar Garg, former President R&D, Reliance Industries Ltd; Kartikeya Dube, Chairman, bp India and Sandeep Maheshwari, CEO, MC² Foundation.
This article was originally
published by the 
