CEO Insights Magazine

As the third-largest energy and oil consumer in the world, India’s economic growth is massively dependent on its thriving Oil & Gas sector. The country’s ever-rising demand for oil and gas has helped the industry attract both domestic as well as foreign investments. The tremendous growth of the industry has helped the oil & gas service provider industry in the country experience a massive boost over the years. As one of the fastest-rising oil and gas service provider firms in India, Navrang Energy Geoservices (NEG) started its operation in 2020 before experiencing inspiring growth in terms of client engagement and overall growth. At the helm of its operation is Arvind Choudhary, a modernage leader, entrepreneur and Director at the firm. An engineering pass-out from SRM University, Arvind is a multi-faceted leader with successful business ventures across industries, including oil & gas, cosmetics, and ride-sharing.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Arvind sheds light on his overall industry experience, his leadership approaches, and much more:

Give a brief account about your profes-sional background and experience.

I completed my BTech in Mechanical Engineering in 2015 from SRM University, Chennai. I was always passionate about venturing into entrepreneurship. During my BTech second year, I along with my team, started a startup named MerryTrips Solution. MerryTrips Solution was a ride-sharing app initially designed for ride-sharing among our university friends before its growing population made us expand its operation across other colleges in Chennai. Eventually, our startup was recognized by Tata Group. As one of the top 10 startups during that time, we were also the first batch of SRM to get such recognition for our startup across various levels.

I have been part of the Oil & Gas industry for the last eight years. After the initial industry experience

of around 2-3 years, I started Navrang Energy, a service provider startup in the Oil & Gas industry offering seismic exploration and monitoring services to its clients. Today, as one of the youngest firms in the oil industry, we are offering our services to some of the leading organizations, including ONGC, Vedanta, Cairn India, and so on.

What is the motivation that fuels your daily routines? Tell us about the unique experiences SRM University Chennai offers and what did you learn from the campus beyond academics.

I am from a small village in Rajasthan. We were neither financially stable nor had good access to education. However, I got the opportunity to come to Ahmedabad and study. From a very young age, I understood the importance of proving myself and kept on working on it, which is something that motivates me to keep going. Apart from that, I always had envisioned touching people's lives in the maximum way possible. I strongly believe that employing people is the best way to give back to society.

Apart from the curriculum and studies, one of the major things that my days at SRM University helped me is personality development. In the past, I used to be more reserved about myself. But joining SRM helped me mingle and interact with people from different corners of India, also helping me learn the value of looking presentable. SRM has a huge space for development across various sectors for you to learn and grow. I built my first startup at the university, which also helped me learn the importance of a team. Due to the success of the startup, I was invited by various universities for a stage talk, further boosting my confidence. I am incredibly thankful to SRM for helping us grow beyond studies and helping me become what I am today.

Tell us about your leadership approach. What are the guidelines or methodologies you follow as a leader?

As a leader, I strongly believe in team empowerment. I am a

practical person and believe in leading by example. I always try to sit with my team. My relationship with my team is based on trust, transparency, and respect. We have open communication, where we try to come up with solutions through technical examples. I also look at both sides before making a decision. It's your team that feeds you with ideas. I am the kind of leader who loves to stay behind and put his team forward. I actively listen to their concerns before offering feedback and even try to ensure that they get credit and recognition for their extraordinary thinking.

Tell us about your CSR initiatives. How do you encourage your employees to participate in them?

Our commitment to CSR endeavors began right after working with one of our biggest clients, Vedanta. Most of our operations used to happen in rural India, enabling us to interact with the people. We, along with the team, decided to do something for the people by offering them employment. So, we hired people and started providing them training. After knowing about the various health issues suffered by the villagers, we even setup free medical and blood donation camps for them. Today, instead of getting workers from different regions, we practice hiring people from the same region and training them. We are also organizing marathons, where the funds collected from the employees are used for providing study equipment to small schools.

Arvind Choudhary, Director, Navrang Energy

A modern-age leader and innovator with around eight years of experience in the Oil & Gas Sector, Arvind today works as the Director at Ahmedabad-based service provider in the Oil & Gas industry, taking care of the operations at the firm. A BTech graduate from SRM University, he, along with his team during his engineering days, started the trend-setting ride-sharing app MerryTrips Solution. Apart from his business endeavors in the oil & gas and ridesharing industry, Arvind has also successfully ventured into the cosmetics industry through his Ahmedabad-based startup, Neev Enterprise.

•Hobbies:Traveling and spending time with family
•Favorite Cuisine: Indian
•Favorite Book: Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom
•Favorite Travel Destination: Kedarnath, Mussourie and Switzerland