Oilman on a marketing drive

Backstage

 When he was the chairman and managing director (CMD) of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), it was at his behest that the company decided to build its lubricant business further and struck a joint venture with Shell to market their premium lubricants.

 When he saw customers preferring cheaper competitive lubes, he promptly relaunched his own brand under Automol in the late 1990s and which is now again being relaunched as the Mak brand.

 BPCL then shied away from entering the high-risk upstream (exploration and production) oil sector.