BP gets govt nod to sell petrol, diesel and ATF

BP entered the Indian exploration and production sector in 2011 by acquiring a 30% stake in 21 blocks of RIL for $7.2 bn

The Indian arm of BP Plc has received approval from the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to sell petrol, diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) in the country.

Through this, BP will join private players Reliance Industries (RIL) and Essar Oil, who are also active in the retail segment that is dominated by state-run players like Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation. The only other foreign major in the sector is Royal Dutch Shell, which operates about 82 pumps in the country. According to an official source close to the development, BP and Haldia Petrochemicals (HPL) were given approval to retail petrol and diesel recently.

Responding to a query from Business Standard, a BP spokesperson said, "BP sees a strong future for transportation fuels in India. We are keen to be involved in this market and contribute to its development. Towards this longer-term objective, we can confirm we have been granted approval for marketing ATF and have additionally applied for an authorisation to market MS (petrol) and HSD (diesel)."

West Bengal's flagship project, HPL, has also received approval to set up 50 retail outlets in eastern India, which may see an investment of about Rs 2,000 crore. HPL was set up in 1994 as a joint venture between the West Bengal government, the Chatterjee Group, Tatas and IOC, with an investment of about Rs 6,000 crore. HPL has already lined up plans to set up petrol pumps across West Bengal.

India currently has around 56,000 petrol pumps, of which, private sector firms run 3,500. According to the policy, retail licence can only be given to a company that has invested more than Rs 2,000 crore in exploration and production (E&P), refining, pipelines or terminals. BP, entered the Indian E&P sector in 2011 by acquiring a 30 per cent interest in 21 blocks of RIL for $7.2 billion.