“The boss is always right,” said Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan while describing how officials fall over each other to come up with workable programmes when their minister gives them an idea. Pradhan was explaining how the idea of oil companies funding start-ups took shape. Some officials were of the view that it should be part of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, but were chided by the minister. “This is not CSR but business and partnership,” Pradhan said at an event where 30 memoranda of understanding were signed by 10 oil companies for funding start-ups. “I thought that if Narayana Murthy and Ratan Tata can fund innovation through personal investment, why can’t our companies do a similar thing.”
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