Sunil Maddala runs India operations for FuelBuddy, the country's largest doorstep fuel delivery company - 180 cities, 10,000 customers a year, and more than 50 crore litres delivered since inception. In this episode he explains why the next chapter isn't fuel at all.He breaks down what actually differentiates FuelBuddy from the oil marketing companies, how the platform serves everyone from a 20-litre order to a customer taking 30 lakh litres a month across 15,000 locations, why 80% of customers never leave, and how the company is repositioning from fuel delivery to "power as a service" - where FuelBuddy owns the generator and you simply pay for the electricity.Sunil is an engineer from Delhi College of Engineering with an MBA from IIM Calcutta, and has spent three decades in corporate roles across India, Europe and Asia - the last 15 of them building new ventures. FuelBuddy was founded in 2016 by Gautam Malhotra and Adnan Kidwai, has raised roughly $24 million across three rounds, and now operates beyond India in the UAE, Nigeria, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia.Chapters:00:00 - Introduction00:35 - Delhi College of Engineering to IIM Calcutta01:27 - How FuelBuddy Started and Why COVID Nearly Killed It02:15 - The Post-COVID Restart and First Funding02:46 - Second Round: Going Global to Middle East and Africa03:09 - The Numbers: 180 Cities, 50 Crore Litres Delivered04:02 - Why India Only Allows Diesel (and CNG in Nigeria)04:29 - From Fuel Delivery to "Power as a Service"05:02 - Who Actually Buys Doorstep Diesel?05:57 - Powering India's Data Centres and Quick Commerce06:49 - 20 Litres to 20 Lakh Litres: The Range of Orders07:25 - 15,000 Locations and a 99% Uptime SLA08:56 - What Makes FuelBuddy Different from the Oil Companies10:08 - The Tech Stack: 400 Stores, One Dashboard11:15 - Using AI and Video Proof to Kill Fuel Pilferage11:39 - Zepto, 400 Locations and No Minimum Order12:41 - Modular Solutions and Sticky Customers13:24 - Why 80% of Customers Never Leave14:18 - What the Regulator Actually Controls16:16 - Surviving Fuel Shortages and Supply Shocks18:47 - $24 Million Raised: What Excites Investors21:09 - "Why Own the Generator? We'll Own It"22:00 - EVs, Hydrogen and the Future of Fossil Fuel---About ELI Podcast:ELI (Entrepreneur's Live Interviews) brings you inspiring stories from India's startup ecosystem. Real founders, real journeys, real insights.Website: https://eli-podcast.com