Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi has said that in line with the Startup India initiative, public sector oil marketing companies encourage innovation by supporting startups involved in varied fields, including the biofuels value chain, by floating innovation challenges regularly on a PAN India basis and funding the projects based on merit.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha today, Mr. Gopi said the government, with the intent to build a strong ecosystem of the country for nurturing innovation, and startups, and encouraging investments in the startup ecosystem of the country, launched the Startup India initiative on 16th January 2016. He said, that under this initiative, the government is implementing the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme and Credit Guarantee Scheme for Startups to support startups at various stages of their business cycle.

Replying to another question, the minister said, renewable energy accounts for 45 percent of total installed generation capacity in the country as of 30th November this year and has contributed to over 20 percent of total power generation in the year 2023-24.