Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Tuesday, Jun 15, 2004 |
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Corporate
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Outlook IOC to invest Rs 150 cr in Kerala Our Bureau
Kochi , June 14 INDIAN Oil Corporation has proposed to invest Rs 150 crore in Kerala during the financial year 2004-05. The initiatives drawn up by the company for the State included augmentation and modernisation of retail outlets, enhancement of LPG connections, launch of a new LPG customer initiative, construction of a Dockline etc. Briefing reporters here, Dr N.G. Kannan, Director (Marketing), said that in Kerala, IOC has a 38.2 market share for all petroleum products and it rules the skies with a 63.6 per cent stake in the sale of aviation fuel. The company has the infrastructure of three terminals, three bulk depots, three LPG bottling plants, 352 retail outlets and 187 LPG distributors in the State. The company will invest Rs 60 crore as part of modernising the retail outlets and plans are afoot to add 50 more outlets in the current fiscal, he added. Likewise, 21 retail outlets in the State would be converted to the XTRA brand retail outlets as part of Marketing Transformation Programme with additional offerings in terms of value added services and products with a plan outlay to expand it to 45 XTRA brand outlets by 2004-05. The premium diesel will be introduced in 30 new retail shops besides the 143 where it is already available, he said. Referring to LPG distribution, Dr Kannan said the company would add additional 3.4 lakh new LPG connections in the State from the present 22.01 lakh customers. At present, three bottling plants in Kochi, Kozhikode and Kollam cater to the LPG requirements across the entire State. The bottling plants are running to its full capacity and efforts would be made to augment the capacities to bridge the shortfall of one lakh tonnes in the State. The company is also planning to introduce a star distributorship programme in LPG distribution as part of offering value added customer service. It has selected 11 LPG agencies in Kochi and their salesman would be trained to provide customer satisfaction. These distributors would deliver refills within 24 hours of booking. Depending on the success, he said the programme would be introduced in other cities in the State. In an effort to introduce eco-friendly automobile fuel, the Marketing Director said three units of Auto LPG Dispensing Stations (ALDS) would be introduced this fiscal in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kottayam at an estimated investment of Rs 50 lakh per retail outlet. IOC would be commissioning a Dockline at Kochi at an estimated cost of Rs 50 crore to facilitate transportation of products from the port to the Irumpanam terminal. The facility would be ready by August this year and it would help the company in product evacuation from its own refineries, he said. With a 34 per cent participation in the retail outlet scenario in Kerala, Indian Oil leads the oil companies in the sale of petrol and diesel with a 33.4 per cent and 35.5 per cent market share respectively in each, he added.
More Stories on : Outlook | Retailing | Petroleum | Kerala
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