NE NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, DEC 17
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) on Monday announced its joint venture with BP will retail fuel under the Jio-BP brand name. The two companies entered into an agreement for forming the joint venture on Monday, RIL said in a statement.
In August this year, RIL announced a joint venture with BP for its fuel retail business in India. The company on Monday disclosed details on the planned joint venture. “BP and RIL today (Monday) signed a definitive agreement relating to the formation of their new Indian fuels and mobility joint venture. This follows the initial heads of agreement signed in August this year,” RIL said in a press statement.
The venture is expected to be formed during the first half of 2020, subject to regulatory and other customary approvals. It will include an India-wide fuels retail service station network and aviation fuel marketing business. The note added that the fuel retail network will operate under the Jio-BP brand. RIL will also transfer ownership of its existing fuel retail network and access to its aviation fuel business to the new joint venture.
At present, the company operates 1,400 retail outlets and 30 aviation fuel stations in the country. “The venture expects to expand from RIL’s current fuel retailing network of up to 5,500 retail sites and 45 aviation fuel stations over the next five years to become the most preferred provider of automotive and aviation fuels,” RIL said in its statement. In addition to fuels, the joint venture will also offer other convenience and services. Part of its product portfolio will include Castrol lubricants. BP is Castrol’s parent organisation.
“Castrol lubricants will be available across the venture’s network,” the statement said. “BP and Reliance are combining their knowledge, expertise and experience to provide Indian consumers world class products and services. We believe that together, we will bring solutions that will benefit the fast-growing Indian market,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of RIL.
RIL will hold 51 per cent stake in the new joint venture and the remaining will be held by BP. RIL, in August, said the 49 per cent stake is valued at Rs 7,000 crore. “This major expansion of our business here reinforces our long-term commitment to India,” said Bob Dudley, group chief executive of BP. For the July-September 2019 quarter, RIL reported double-digit volume growth in both diesel and petrol segments while growth at the industry level saw a decline for both the fuels. The company pegged the volume growth for high speed diesel (HSD) at 14-15 per cent and petrol at 17 per cent year-on-year
