Gulf Oil eyes bigger pie of Indian lubes mart

Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd (GOCL) plans to tap the huge growth potential for in the Indian lubricants market. The company has lined up aggressive plans to increase its market share, company officials said.

Speaking to mediapersons in Silvassa, N C Sekharan, head-Lubes SBU, Gulf Oil, said, "The Indian economy is growing at a fast pace. Transportation by roads is growing, and would grow at an even faster rate in future. New types of heavy vehicles, having higher tonnage capacity, more horsepower and new designs, would be plying on the Indian roads in the coming years."

"We believe because of these changes, there will be huge opportunities in the lubricant sector in the next three to five years. Our task is to catch up with these changes, and develop newer products, keeping the future in mind. We have the technology and the human resources to meet the challenges," he said.

At present, Gulf Oil, a part of the Hinduja Group, is the second largest private sector company in the lubricants market, having market share of around 5 per cent.

"Our total manufacturing capacity at the Silvassa plant is 75,000 kilolitres per annum, but we have chalked out a strategy, to enhance our volumes in the coming years," he said.

Sekharan also said that the company has decided to focus on the retail sector, which is a major avenue for growth. "We intend to strengthen our distribution network and introduce newer products. We plan to increase the total number of distributors from the current 475 to 525 by March next year, and to 580 in the next two years. We have 30 distributors in Gujarat, which we intend to increase, and expand our presence soon," he said.

Gulf Oil has recently completed an expansion project at its Silvassa plant. Under the plan, the company has constructed concrete first floor, installed plastic moulding machine, and other automatic filling machines, with an expenditure of Rs five crore. The filling capacity of the plant has increased by 50 per cent after the expansion.

The lubes divisions, which is ISO 9001:2000 certified, plans to achieve ISO 14000 certification soon. During the first nine months of the current fiscal, Gulf Oil has achieved a turnover of Rs 328.33 crore, and a net profit of Rs 17.28 crore.