Shrikant Madhav Vaidya is the Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IndianOil), the Fortune-500 Indian energy major that is ranked #94 in 2023. A Chemical Engineer with over 36 years of experience in the downstream petroleum industry and refinery-petrochemical integration, SM Vaidya is a leading global energy technocrat and a key contributor to the global discourse on energy security and sustainability.
Vaidya was named the top Indian CEO and #81 globally by the CEOWORLD Magazine in March 2023. He has led IndianOil since July 2020 to consistent performances in key operational areas and achieving the highest-ever net profit and revenue from operations, notwithstanding geopolitical conflicts and the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
SM Vaidya has been steering IndianOil towards fueling the growth of an ascendant Indian economy and ensuring energy justice for a billion-plus Indians. Since July 2020, refining projects worth over 8 billion USD and petrochemical projects worth 12 billion USD have been greenlighted for catering to India’s rising demands and uninterrupted energy access. He has also ushered in several pathbreaking digital endeavours and set new benchmarks of excellence, as the company aims to increase its share in India’s energy pie from 9% to 12.5% by 2050.
Steering the Fortune 500 Company through a crucial period of transformation, Vaidya is charting the company’s ambitious vision of becoming a One Trillion Dollar Giant by 2047, contributing over 3% to the nation’s GDP. Aligning with India’s green energy transition, SM Vaidya is also spearheading IndianOil into a new energy era to realise a Net-Zero Operational Emissions milestone by 2046 encompassing both Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions with an envisioned investment of about 30 billion USD. These sustainability drives have translated into a robust ESG score for the company in prestigious global rankings. IndianOil is the leading Indian corporation in the latest Bloomberg NEF Global Rankings and the S&P Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.
As India sets its eyes on a cleaner future fueled by green hydrogen, SM Vaidya is working to strengthen India’s green hydrogen ecosystem, including collaborations for green hydrogen plants at IndianOil refineries and fuelling hydrogen mobility. His pioneering vision has led to the launch and export of differentiated fuels like AVGAS 100LL in the country, and enriching the product basket with pathbreaking and niche fuels, such as the racing fuel ‘Storm’ for the international motorcycle circuit; high-performance fuels such as XP100; India’s first ETHANOL 100 fuel; Reference Gasoline and Diesel fuels for vehicle testing by OEMs, and more.
Under his leadership, IndianOil has focused on the development of biofuels with Asia’s first 2G ethanol bio-refinery and the world’s first 3G ethanol plant. IndianOil is also leading India’s sustainable aviation fuel segment with plans to set up a Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plant.
Under the ‘Unbottled’ initiative steered by SM Vaidya, the company is recycling 100 million PET bottles on a large scale to convert them into uniforms for IndianOil ground force and creating non-combat uniforms for defence personnel.
Vaidya has also put IndianOil firmly on the forefront of corporate India’s conservation efforts through initiatives like sponsoring the Cheetah program in India – the world’s first intercontinental wildlife translocation project – and protecting Indian single-horned rhinos, among others.
Under his leadership, IndianOil has excelled in social stewardship evident in transformational initiatives such as ‘Umeed – A Hope’ prison retail outlets. Joining hands with various State Prisons, the outlets are being operated by some of the current and former inmates. Vaidya’s strong belief in the transformative influence of sports through programs like ‘Prison to Pride’ and ‘Smile for Juvenile’ has helped change the lives of inmates and rehabilitate juveniles. To date, the twin programmes have touched the lives of over 6300 inmates in nearly 130 prisons and juvenile correction centres. The inmates and juveniles trained under the program won the FIDE’s International ‘Chess for Freedom’ Championship in October 2023. The International Chess Federation has also bestowed upon him, the prestigious title of ‘Friend of FIDE’ in February 2024 for these initiatives.
Under his vision, IndianOil has made significant contributions to Indian sports by empowering girls, raising the first corporate women’s hockey team, supporting Indian para-athletes, and nurturing Indian sports stars. These pioneering efforts have been acknowledged with India’s highest national honour for sports promotion, awarded by the President of India (2021) and other prestigious awards.
His humane approach during COVID-19, motivated the teams to work 24X7 at IndianOil’s more than 30,000 fueling stations, and LPG teams to deliver up to 3.3 million cylinders daily during the stringent lockdown. Vaidya was at the forefront, leveraging the logistical prowess of IndianOil to bring in ISO tankers from across the world and strengthen Liquid Medical Oxygen logistics within the country.
