MoPNG’s MC² foundation launches accelerator programme for oil and gas deep tech start-ups

The MC² foundation, a non-government private entity under the aegis of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gaseous (MoPNG) has announced the launch of ‘MC² Ignite’, a sector-specific accelerator programme designed to support deep-tech start-ups building technologies to 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 & gaseous companies at the IIT Madras Campus.

MC² Ignite will select a cohort of approximately 30 start-ups who will be eligible to 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 & gaseous sector, providing access to real pilot sites.

Published on August 20, 2026