NRL signs agreements with 3 startups

The Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) has signed agreements with three of the eight startups shortlisted last year for funding in the 'iDEATION', the compay's startup initiative.

The agreements were signed at a conclave organised to deliberate and gauge the performance of the startups, an NRL statement said on Wednesday.

Agreements with the remaining five startups will be signed soon.

Presentations on progress achieved and way forward were made by all the four startups funded in the first edition of NRL iDEATION in 2017, the statement said.

"The NRL itself is a startup that was conceived as part of the historic Assam Accord of 1985," NRL Managing Director S K Barua said at the conclave held recently.

The NRL has been funding startups in grant mode in its previous editions "but now we are looking forward to invest in equity," Barua added.

Chairman cum Managing Director of North Eastern Devlopment Finance Corporation B Paul Muktieh praised the NRL for its startup initiative iDEATION and hailed its role of NRL as an Angel Investor for the numerous entrepreneurs of the North-East.

"The fund of Rs 10 crore earmarked for startups has been made non-lapsable so that submission and evaluation of startups ideas is a continuous process throughout the year," the statement quoted NRL's Director (Technical) B J Phukan as saying.

The NRL has launched the iDEATION in 2017 to lend wings to the dreams and ideas of entrepreneurs from the North-East by selecting promising ideas and assisting them to grow.