The Hindu Business Line : BP Group targets rural India with hybrid cooking appliance

STRESSING the need for clean and affordable energy sources for cooking, the BP Group Chief Executive, Lord John Browne, said BP has developed a hybrid appliance integrating liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and a biomass burner to reduce indoor air pollution.

Addressing the captains of the Indian industry, Lord Browne said, "We have developed a hybrid appliance that allows people to choose which fuel they use."

"The offer includes home delivery of the appliance, LPG cylinder and micro finance options for the initial capital cost," he said. To support the business, the company has developed a mechanism of getting the products into the market involving innovative distribution models, Lord Browne said. The business model will also help provide income-generating opportunities to people by giving them a chance to run a small business as entrepreneurs and dealers.

"We are starting to develop this business but our aspiration is to make it quite substantial so that it could reach perhaps 20 million households across rural India by 2020."

The company also proposes to expand its solar power business, besides co-operating in exploration, refining and marketing of fuels, as part of its strategy to enhance energy ties in the country. "We hope to expand our solar power business. We hope to help find oil and gas and win access to supplies in the world market and to build on the businesses we have - processing, distributing and marketing of fuels," he said.

He allayed fears of crude oil touching $100 a barrel, saying that there were two schools of thought on the issue with one expecting crude oil prices to touch the $100 mark, while the other said it would reach the equilibrium of $40 per barrel. "My view is quite neutral. I don't believe crude oil prices would touch $100 a barrel," he said.

Commenting on the trend of aggressive bidding by different countries for oil acreage abroad, Lord Browne said, "Governments are always averse to risk-taking on any oil shortages and tend to protect themselves from any eventuality of supplies being impacted. The efforts to acquire oil acreages stems from this," he said.

While admitting that 90 per cent of the oil and reserves were in the control of state-owned enterprises, the BP Group Chief Executive said the private sector had been working in co-operation with state-owned companies to attain optimal utilisation of resources. The future oil reserves will be in West Asia, Russia and West Africa, he said.

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