Sah Petro to enter retail lube market soon

The Mumbai-based lubricants manufacturer, Sah Petroleum, in a move to get a bigger share of the automotive lubricants market is planning to introduce its Ipol brand in the retail segment.

The Rs 110 crore company currently has a 90 per cent presence in the industrial lube segment, but is looking at increasing market share in the automotive lube segment by aiming at getting nearly half its revenue from the automotive segment in the next five years.

The company came out with its initial public offering last year. In an expansion move, the company is raising its blending capacity to 50,000 kilolitre at its Vasai and Daman facilities. Plans are also afoot to increase its bulk storage capacity from 6.7 million litre to 9.3 million litre in the current fiscal.

According to Aditya Sah, joint managing director, Sah Petroleum, "We are looking at repositioning our automotive lubricant brand Ipol in the next six months and are going to focus on semi-rural and rural areas."

The company has recruited around 40 people as part of its marketing and sales team and it is also focussing on research and development activities. It has also hired consultants for brand building.

The company has planned a capital outlay of Rs 40 crore for the current fiscal. Currently, the company intends to intensify its focus on northern and western regions.

In the industrial segment, rubber processing oils account for 35 per cent of its business. It is also looking at tying up with a multinational company for transferring technology of synthetic lubricants.

In a cluttered lubricant market with 32 players, Indian Oils' Servo brand is the market leader with 38 per cent market share, followed by Castrol, which enjoys a 20 per cent market share. Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum have 18 per cent and 10 per cent share of the market, respectively.