Gulf Oil to set up lubes plant in South India

Hyderabad-based Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd, a part of Hinduja group, is planning to set up an automated lubricants manufacturing plant in south India with an estimated investment of Rs 100 crore. With this, the company would double the capacity in India, according to a senior executive from the company.

"We are in talks with various state governments in south India to identify a location for our new plant. The new greenfield facility, with an estimated capacity of around 75,000 tonnes, will be set up with an expected investment of around Rs 100 crore," said Ravi Chawla, president of lubes business (India), Gulf Oil Corporation.

 

The company currently has a capacity of around 75,000 tonne at Silvassa, in the Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. Currently, around 80-85 per cent of the capacity is utilised. The new plant has to be ready for operations in the next two years, since company requires additional production capacity to cater to the growth in demand.

The capacity expansion is in line with the company's plans for higher growth in the market. The key market segment is growing at six to eight per cent and the company is expecting a growth three times of this in the coming years, he said. It has around 12 manufacturing plants across various parts of the world.

As part of its brand building exercise in India, the company has signed up Indian cricket team Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni as its brand ambassador for its product. Dhoni would represent the Gulf brand, a player in the Long Drain Lubricants space in India and in some of Gulf Oils' overseas markets, according to a company announcement. The company has presence in around 100 countries.

Earlier, it has sponsored Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab cricket teams for the fourth editions of Indian Premier League, as part of brand building programmes.

In December, 2010, it has also entered into a new OEM tie-up with Mahindra & Mahindras Automotive division to launch co-branded lubricants.

The division, in the fiscal 2010-11, has posted a growth of 20.60 per cent in turn over at Rs 679 crore as against Rs 563 crore reported during the previous fiscal, according to the annual report of the company.

The core segments it identified for future growth includes new generation diesel engine oils, motorcycle oils (4T) and passenger car motor oils.