CEO Insights Magazine

Many could start a business organization but running a successful one is a whole another ball game. Leading a business from the front is no cakewalk and it takes a great deal of expertise and experience coupled with courage and determination to guide a company towards sustained success in the industry. GM is a position that is largely responsible for overseeing the entire business operations of a company and it takes a specific set of skill sets to be a good GM, and Sugumaran Panneerselvam, a pioneering GM that has been charting out the growth maps of NRP Projects for many years now. And with him leading the charges, the company has been able to break new business frontiers consistently.

In an exclusive interview with CEO Insights, Sugumaran talks more about his professional journey and his evolution as a visionary GM.

Give us a brief detail about your educational and professional background. What were the initial challenges that taught you the basic lessons of managing diversified functions of the organizations?
I completed BE Civil and Structural Engineering in 1994 from Annamalai University at Tamil Nadu. Later, I did my PG Diploma in Design and Construction of Concrete structures in 2002 at Annamalai University. Finally, I did my MBA project management with Alagappa University in Tamil Nadu, in 2008. Initially, I worked with Neyveli Lignite Corporation [Gov. of India] as an Executive Engineer in Power Plant Construction Projects and Lignite mining operations from 1994 to 2008. Later, I resigned and went abroad to take the challenging tasks in Cement and Oil & Gas Sectors. I was in various foreign countries from 2008 to 2019 and that experience helped me to grab the opportunity in Top Management Representative.

I have faced many challenges in the earlier projects that I worked on. Initially, I worked in Indian projects and did not have much management exposure. As the 1st phase of abroad assignment, I was the Production in charge in a Precast Industry in Sharjah, UAE. It was that experience that helped me a lot. I learned many management skills there including how to deal with the client, consultants, and Gov. officials, to name a few, one of my boss, Akbar taught me many micro level management lessons there. Later, I have moved to Republic of Angola by 2009, as a Project Manager for the project of construction of 4200TPD Green Field cement plant. This exposure

also helped me a lot in my professional journey so far.

What different roles have you been undertaking at NRP Projects?
My present role at NRP Projects is the overall in-charge for the Oil storage tankage and pipeline projects. The main assignments for me include project planning, procurements, engineering, skilled people recruitments, contractor's finalization, accounting responsibilities, dealing with the consultants, profit and loss accounting, client dealings, logistics, acquiring government approvals, client and stockholders' meetings, settlement of design disputes, maintaining all sort of engineers and workers, and facilities to the staff.

Can you tell us about the services that NRP Projects offers and as the GM of the company what are the policies that you have implemented for the growth of the company and its employees?
NRP is a well reputed company, which delivers the project in-time with the stipulated quality measures. We are doing EPC works in Oil & Gas, Cross country pipelines, and HDD works in India. As a GM, I am going with competitive prices to get the work from our clients. Quality is our prime motto, and we do regular quality checks as per the stipulated codes. Next to the quality, we are considering the assigned time frames. To achieve the time bounded progress, we work around the clock. Hence, we are achieving our goals with our planned activities.

For the development of our employees, we have implemented all the employee welfare measures and our employees are so happy to work with the NRP Projects. We acknowledge the fact that, if the employee is not happy, the progress of the projects will affect drastically and we have come up with various awards on a monthly basis to motivate them.

I want to thank and appreciate my team members/colleagues, who are the backbone to my career growth as well as for the successful running of the projects and company.

What additional benefit does NRP Projects provides to your customers that similar other establishments in the market fail to deliver?
Quality and Timely completion. Most of the competitors fail in those aspects. Communication is also a key factor for our operations and this helps us to operate in an efficient manner. Timely communication, planning, procurement and engineering always play a big role in the

successful completion of our projects and it has helped us to build a positive reputation in the industry.

In your professional journey so far, which are the milestones that bestowed you with utmost satisfaction - both as an individual and as a GM?
I am considering the project I have completed at Republic of Angola [Construction of 4200 TPD Green field Cement plant] as a milestone project in my career. It was a challenging project in many aspects. Language barrier, non-availability of skilled manpower, sophisticated construction equipment/materials, and limited access to the site in the initial phases made it a challenging task to complete. We have resolved all the above-mentioned issues and successfully completed the project within the time frame. I have also received the `TOP EXECUTIVES IN THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY' in Nigeria in 2015. That was an awesome day in my career and the Editor in Chief of the Nigerian Top Executives magazine issued the certificate to me.

Secondly, I have to thankful to my family especially to my Wife, who sacrificed many things towards my successful professional life. She is taking care of my family, including my parents, kids. I am working peacefully without any family worries, because of my wife's dedicative caring skill. I am very proud to say, "A lady is behind every successful Man". Yes. It is TRUE with respect to my professional and personal life.

Finally, I want to thank my father, who is also an Engineer (Retired), who teaches me many things in the initial phase. All his advises are benefiting me in my career path, till today.

How has been the growth of the company so far and what are the future plans of your company?
NRP Projects' growth is moving rapidly. We are bagging good contracts in the recent days all because of the timely completion of projects and the quality of our work. This coupled with the flexibility of our operations has helped us to clock in impressive growth numbers. Our future road map is already planned and we are expanding our projects to other sectors in addition to Oil & Gas. Because of our reputation and hard works, expanding in large scale is very much possible in near future.

My Board of Directors/Top Management members are very much efficient and cooperative with respect to the Project Progressing, Client satisfaction and Employee welfare aspects. They are giving free hand to me to facilitate the projects progress as well as company Growth, which is motivating me to do further miracles.

Sugumaran Panneerselvam, GM, NRP Projects
A connoisseur that stands for excellence, Sugumaran has been able to come up with innovative and result-oriented business strategies for ensuring the sustained growth of NRP Projects. With him at the helm, the company is also aiming to reach for greater heights in the industry.