Total LPG India plans new bottling plant

Total LPG India Limited, a subsidiary of Euro 158 billion Total SA of France, the fourth largest publicly traded oil and gas major in the world, is setting up a LPG bottling plant at Kunigal, about 65 kms from Bangalore.

The company has acquired 12 acres land to set up the 450 metric tonne per annum bottling plant at an investment of Rs 20 crore that will cater to the requirements of its customers in and around Bangalore.

Paul Jewell, Managing Director, Total LPG India Limited said the company will import gas from West Asia through the New Mangalore Port and bring it through tankers to Kunigal for bottling. Its customers in and around Bangalore include Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Toyota Kirlosar Auto Parts, Jindal Vijayanagar Steel and a number of hotels.

 

“We are bullish on Indian market. Currently, we are exploring various options of expanding our business in the country including an opportunity to set up a refinery in Vizag. We are also interested in selling LPG cylinders to the domestic household customers in the future. However, the present subsidy policy of the government does not help us to do it,” Jewell told reporters, here on Tuesday.

The company is now in the process of expanding its business in south India. It has recently forayed into marketing of auto LPG and opened 15 dispensing stations across souther states.

Over the next one year, it plans to open another 15 dispensing stations, V Rajeev, deputy managing director, Total LPG India Limited said. The company is also looking at selling aviation fuel.

The investment for each LPG dispensing station will be in the region of Rs 1 crore, he said.

"We have our base in south India and due to logistical reasons, we can not expand out business in other parts of the country. We will concentrate only on south Indian states," he added.

The company is also appointing franchisees to grow its retail business. While, the local partner will make an investment on real estate, the company will provide product, technology and brand name.

Total LPG, which recently acquired Elf Gas India Limited, also unveiled a new brand identity — Totalgaz. The company will sell LPG under this brand name. The new brand name is adopted on the lines of its parent company, which also sells LPG under the brand name Totalgaz.

Total LPG India has set up a 9,000 metric tonne per annum LPG storage tank in Mangalore and a 60,000 metric tonne storage tank at Vizag in partnership with HPCL.

The company has invested Rs 150 crore in Mangalore for setting up the storage facility. The Kunigal bottling plant will be ready within a year.