BPCL to convert 60 In&Out stores into food courts by FY11

PSU oil firm Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) plans to convert 60 'In&Out' outlets into profit making ventures such as food courts and coffee shops by the next fiscal, a senior company official here said.

"The company has tied-up with leading food chains like McDonalds in the West, Subway in the South and Nirula's in the Delhi-NCR to revamp the stores and has earmarked an investment of Rs 20 crore for the purpose," BPCL General Manager (Brand and Allied Business) George Paul told PTI.

"Many of these outlets were incurring losses. We have shut down a few while converting a few into food courts, coffee shops and book stores. We propose to have 60 such converted outlets next fiscal," Paul said.

The state-run petroleum major has 300 'In & Out' outlets across the country and has already revamped 50 of them so far.

The company is targeting a revenue of Rs 400 crore (post revamp) this fiscal from its 'In&Out' outlets against Rs 290 crore in the last fiscal, he said.

BPCL's total turnover last fiscal from retail business, including loyalty programmes stood at Rs 85,000 crore, Paul said, adding that it targets a 20 per cent growth in FY10.

Besides, the company also plans to expand its Petro and Smart Fleet cards base and is in talks with a few corporates for this purpose, he said.

"We are planning to revive our old customers and issue more such cards to corporate customers, especially IT companies, banks and healthcare institutions," Paul said.

The PSU also plans to install 80 more ATMs at its petrol pumps by March this year and scale it up to 1,000 over the next 3-4 years.

Currently, the company has a 220-strong ATM network.