GAIL Enhances Startup Fund to Rs 500 Crore in FY25 to Drive India’s Innovation Push: Hardeep Puri

GAIL (India) Limited has raised its fund for investing in startups five times over — from Rs 100 crore to Rs 500 crore during the financial year 2024-25 — as part of its ongoing efforts towards augmenting India’s startup ecosystem, Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said on Tuesday.

Taking to X (then Twitter), the minister underlined the pace of India’s startup revolution under the stewardship of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “India is the world’s third-largest startup ecosystem now. GAIL’s startup program ‘PANKH’ is empowering young entrepreneurs and innovation in the energy sector,” he said.

Puri also added that GAIL is presently backing 38 start-ups in areas such as natural gas, pipelines, petrochemicals, renewable energy, energy storage, and other new segments. These start-ups have created a total of about 1,000 employment opportunities over the last three years.

The minister further noted that six large Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) in India have invested Rs 290 crore of their allocated Rs 550-crore start-up fund together, facilitating the development of 303 start-ups so far.

India today has over 1.5 lakh registered startups and 120 unicorns, accentuating its status as a global innovation hub. “This is real empowerment and real impact — driven by the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Puri observed.

He also highlighted the future-looking strategy of the government in the Union Budget 2025-26, where it committed Rs 10,000 crore under the Fund of Funds scheme to create deep-tech and AI-based platforms.

As per DPIIT (Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade), more than 1.59 lakh startups have been recognized officially, reiterating India’s status as a world leader in innovation and entrepreneurship.

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