The Hindu Business Line : BPCL betting big on revenues from non-petroleum biz

Mumbai, April 9 In view of rising under-recoveries, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd is keen to expand its non-petroleum businesses. From the current turnover of Rs 550 crore, it plans to touch Rs 1,500 crore by 2011.

BPCL is also planning to take non-petroleum revenue to a new level by setting up highway fuel station integrated with cinema halls and restaurants.

The company has set up 400 ‘In and Out’ convenience stores at its fuel stations, which offer a wide variety of services like ATMs, music stores, cafeterias and grocery retail stores. From the current turnover of Rs 200 crore, the company plans to increase it to Rs 500 crore in three years.

‘Beyond LPG’, which offers household appliances, kitchen utensils and even tea and pickles, through LPG dealers network has even more ambitious target of achieving Rs 1,000 turnover by 2011 from the current Rs 350 crore, a company spokesperson said.

Introduced as a value-added service by BPCL in 2003 for its LPG customers, Beyond LPG has spun out into a profitable unit. Branded products are home delivered to BPCL customers using the existing delivery system for LPG cylinders. The customers have to place orders over the phone.

Cinema venture

In two months BPCL would be launching digital cinema halls with 200-seat capacity bundled with highway fuel stations at Halol near Godhara and Bareja near Ahemdabad.

Talking to Business Line, Mr Keshav Shenoy, General Manager (Highway Retailing) of BPCL, said that construction and beta testing of the digital cinema halls would be completed in two months. Digital films would be beamed to the fuel stations. The company has tied up with Cinemata, a film distribution unit of Sony Entertainment Television, to source the films. Since cinema is in a digital format there is no fear of piracy, he said.

Mr Shenoy said that the company chose Gujarat for the pilot project as it has a sizable NRI population located in the villages. Studies have shown that urban dwellers in Gujarat spend their weekends at water parks, restaurants and cinemas, he said.

“Our aim is to take entertainment to the villages and to give more options to our customers at our fuel stations. It would be entertainment on wheels,” Mr Shenoy said.

If the pilot project is successful then by 2010, about 300 fuel outlets would have such cinema halls across the country.

More Stories on : Outlook | Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd | Petroleum

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page