Mahindra Group recently launched the $1-million Rise prize which poses challenges: One, the mobility challenge that seeks solutions for driverless cars in India and two, the solar challenge that aims to make solar energy products more accessible to people.

Tata Group is not far behind in this run either. Tata also launched the Tata First Dot initiative to foster student entrepreneurship in the country providing them access to resources and networks to refine their business models and access mentors. Moreso Ratan Tata seemed keen on such collaborations. He has been backing Media Lab's initiative called Kumbhathon that is seeking to develop technologies through startups to tackle the many problems that will emerge when 30 million people descend on Nashik in the upcoming Kumbh Mela in 2015. He personally invested into three start ups this year with e-commerce major Snapdeal, Urban Ladder and Bluestone.

This itrend is not just confined to Indian firms; even the MNCs are lured into partnerships with Indian startups. Even companies like Infosys and Wipro are betting big on startups. Profits made by recent startups are really impressive which of course is the reason behind these partnerships.

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