Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, MoPNG, with CMDs of Oil & Gas PSUs, Chairman, bp India & partner institution heads at launch of MC²+ Ignite
Petroleum Secretary along with CMDs of all oil giants launches “MC²+ Ignite: India’s Flagship Energy Innovation Accelerator”The MC² foundation, a non-government private entity under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) has announced the launch of ‘MC²+ Ignite’, a sector-specific accelerator programme designed to support deep-tech start-ups building technologies for India’s energy sector.The programme was launched by Secretary, MoPNG along with Kartikeya Dube, Chairman, bp India and the Chairman and Managing Directors(CMDs) of all oil & gas companies at the IIT Madras Campus.Funding detailsMC²+ Ignite will select a cohort of approximately 30 start-ups who will be eligible for up to ₹2 crore in milestone-linked convertible funding.“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 — and it comes with no direct interface to the institutions where the research is actually happening,”Neeraj Mittal, Secretary, MoPNG, and Chairman, MC² Foundation, said that The programme will operate in a decentralised model having its hub in Delhi and nodes within their R&D centres of various sponsoring companies in the Indian oil & gas sector, providing access to real pilot sites.Published on August 20, 2026
