Sustainability is central to Nawgati’s vision. By reducing idle times, improving fuel throughput, and cutting congestion, Nawgati directly lowers CO₂ emissions and fuel wastage across thousands of stations, contributing meaningfully to India’s carbon reduction commitments, says Vaibhav Kaushik, Co-Founder & CEO of Nawgati in an interview with EVolution Auto India.
Q: What inspired you to address fuel station congestion, and how did your engineering background contribute?
Vaibhav Kaushik: The idea for Nawgati was born from a real-life experience – waiting in long, unorganized queues at fuel stations, which I encountered repeatedly while traveling between Noida and Greater Noida back in 2019, using an Ola or Uber taxi. What most people accepted as a daily inconvenience, I saw as a real-world problem that could be solved using technology that could reduce inefficiencies, which have been affecting millions of drivers and thousands of station operators across India.
My engineering background at BITS Pilani enabled me to approach this problem not just as a user but as a system designer. The exposure to solving problems with technology at BITS allowed me to envision a platform that could streamline vehicle flow, reduce waiting times, and optimize operations at scale, while offering a real-time status of each station nearby for the end consumer. This was not about building another consumer app, but it was about using intelligent automation and real-time data to fix a broken physical experience with digital precision. Supported by peers, mentors, and an entrepreneurial ecosystem on campus, we converted this frustration into Nawgati, a solution rooted in first-hand pain points, powered by technology, and scalable across the country’s fueling infrastructure.
Q: How did Shark Tank India’s exposure influence Nawgati’s growth and credibility?
Vaibhav Kaushik: Shark Tank India was more than just a funding event for Nawgati, it was a national platform that validated our mission and vision. Securing an undisclosed investment from respected investors like Aman Gupta and Amit Jain signaled to the market that Nawgati wasn’t just another early-stage startup—it was a serious, credible solution built to tackle an industry-wide challenge. The exposure catalyzed a ripple effect: fuel station owners began reaching out, PSU partnerships accelerated, and confidence among our existing stakeholders grew manifold. We also noticed a surge in the Nawgati Fueling app downloads, B2B inquiries, and collaborations with major oil companies after the episode aired. The endorsement also strengthened our credibility with government bodies and regulatory stakeholders, helping us push pilot projects and gain approvals faster. Shark Tank’s visibility gave us the narrative leverage every early-stage company needs to tell a simple, relatable story of solving a real problem at scale with deep technology.
Q: What strategies are you implementing to achieve your 2025 expansion goals? What are your sustainability goals?
Vaibhav Kaushik: To reach our target of onboarding thousands of fuel outlets and 5 million app users by 2025, we’re focusing on three strategic pillars. First, partnerships with India’s leading PSU and private oil companies—ensuring Nawgati becomes part of the official digital infrastructure of the country’s fuel retailing network. Second, we are continuously enhancing Aaveg’s capabilities using AI-driven insights to offer more value to fuel station operators, thereby driving adoption at scale. Third, customer acquisition and retention are facilitated through the Nawgati Fueling app, which offers real-time updates to drivers and integrates value-added services.
Sustainability is central to our vision. By reducing idle times, improving fuel throughput, and cutting congestion, we directly lower CO₂ emissions and fuel wastage across thousands of stations, contributing meaningfully to India’s carbon reduction commitments. Our platform will also evolve to manage multi-fuel stations, including EV charging and alternative fuels, supporting India’s clean mobility goals.
Q: How does Aaveg optimize fuel station operations and drive energy efficiency?
Vaibhav Kaushik: We’re building Aaveg with a clear vision that is to make it India’s fuel station operators’ north star, helping them navigate day-to-day challenges with data-backed insights, improve efficiency, and just transform the way they operate.
Using real-time data from our controllers, computer vision, and deep learning algorithms, Aaveg monitors vehicle queues, service times, and bay utilization. It empowers station owners to dynamically allocate service lanes, optimize manpower shifts, and predict peak demand hours, leading to smoother operations and significantly reduced customer wait times.
But beyond operational efficiency, Aaveg contributes to energy conservation. By minimizing vehicle idling and streamlining traffic flow within the station premises, fuel burn and CO₂ emissions are reduced at the forecourt itself. This not only cuts operational costs but also aligns station operations with broader sustainability standards, making every outlet smarter, leaner, and greener.
Q: What major technological challenges did you face, and how did you overcome them?
Vaibhav Kaushik: Like any deep-tech startup, building Nawgati came with its share of complexities. Fuel stations across India are not standardized, where in each station varies in layout, infrastructure, and even how operations are run. Creating a solution that could work seamlessly across such diversity required a lot of experimentation and on-ground learning.
Another challenge was making sure our platform remained fast and reliable, even in areas with poor connectivity or minimal digital infrastructure. We had to ensure that Nawgati worked not just in metro cities but also in small towns and highways where the need is often greater.
What helped us overcome these hurdles was our commitment to staying close to the problem. We spent time at stations, spoke to operators, tested different configurations, and continuously refined our solution. Listening, really listening, to the people using our product was key. The result is a platform that isn’t just technologically sound, but also grounded in real-world needs.
Q: How does Nawgati engage with local communities and fuel station operators?
Vaibhav Kaushik: For Nawgati, technology adoption isn’t just about software deployment, it’s about building trust with local communities and station operators. Our on-ground teams regularly visit fuel stations to conduct hands-on training sessions, demonstrating how Aaveg simplifies operations and boosts profitability. We also equip station staff with digital tools and dashboards that are easy to understand, regardless of their technical background.
On the consumer side, our Nawgati app helps everyday drivers avoid long waits, save time, and reduce fuel wastage, which we have made accessible by making the app available in several regional languages. We have been building partnerships with transport unions, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, which has helped us gain over 2 million users on the app, and is growing consistently.
By maintaining this two-way dialogue, both B2B and B2C, we drive deeper adoption.
Q: How do you see the future of fueling infrastructure in India, and Nawgati’s role?
Vaibhav Kaushik: India’s fueling infrastructure is at an inflection point. With the government’s push for alternative fuels, such as EV, CNG, and hydrogen, and growing environmental consciousness among consumers, tomorrow’s fuel stations will be multi-energy hubs, not just petrol, diesel or CNG outlets, and the trend has started to shift even in the Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities where people are consciously moving towards EVs. And, we’re continuously building our platform to power this shift.
Aaveg is fuel-agnostic and scalable, meaning it can seamlessly integrate with EV charging points and hydrogen dispensers, thereby optimizing energy distribution, wait times, and utilization across various energy types. As fueling diversifies, station complexities will increase, but so will the need for data-driven, predictive management platforms like Nawgati. Our vision is to make this complex transition effortless for station owners and convenient for consumers, while ensuring energy efficiency and sustainability at every step. This will put Nawgati at the centre of India’s clean mobility revolution, bridging the gap between conventional fuels and the energy needs of the future.
Q: What have been your most significant learning experiences on this journey?
Vaibhav Kaushik: The journey from being an engineering student at BITS Pilani to leading Nawgati as CEO has been filled with humbling lessons. The first, and perhaps the most important, has been patience. Building hardware-enabled platforms for a deeply traditional industry like fuel retailing requires time, persistence, and relationship-building at every level, from PSU executives to station staff.
Another key learning is adaptability. Market dynamics, technology standards, and consumer behavior in India change rapidly. Our ability to iterate Aaveg based on real-world feedback has been vital. I’ve also learned the power of partnerships, whether it’s support from government schemes like MeitY TIDE 2.0, BITS Pilani’s incubation ecosystem, gaining faith in your technology, being backed by GAIL, especially from customers, the credibility boost from Shark Tank, or even at times engaging with the media. Every moment of this journey has been a learning curve, and it has been wonderfully rewarding.