- The Saronda plant will process over 300,000-kilolitres of lubricants
- This will be GPPL’s second blending plant in the country
- GP Petroleums Ltd (GPPL), an automotive and industrial lubricant player in India, and part of UAE-based GP Global Group, plans to invest ₹100 crore in a new state-of-the-art plant in Saronda, Gujarat to process over 300,000-kilolitres of lubricants.
- This will be GPPL’s second blending plant in the country and will manufacture specialty value-added products, in addition to the automotive and industrial lubricants catering to the entire value chain. Apart from the homegrown IPOL brand, the plant may blend REPSOL branded automotive products as well.
- “We are very bullish about the growth of the Indian lubricant industry and aim to be one of its fastest-growing players. The new facility will accelerate our growth engine, which will be led by the automotive segment in tier two and three towns and cities. We already have a partnership with over 500 distributors across India which will be strengthened further in the next few years,” said Prashanth Achar, CEO at GPPL.
- Achar said the company has re-drafted its strategy globally for its lubricant business and this investment is part of the same.
- “We are looking at an aggressive target of 500 million litres in five years globally with market entries in Africa, some of the Middle East countries and South Asia. This plant should cater to India specifically and also the South Asian market. For the India strategy that we have drafted, we are talking about doubling the profit in four years and doubling in volumes in five years,” added Achar.
- The company currently operates a plant in Vasai near Mumbai with an annual capacity of 80,000 metric tonnes and houses a storage facility of 15,000 metric tonnes, one of the largest in the Indian industry. GPPL’s brands IPOL and REPSOL cover all the available segments of motorcycle oils, diesel engine oils, car oils and specialty oils.
- “The new plant is part of our global growth strategy to produce and market 500 million litres of lubricants across the world through both organic and inorganic routes. India is a very important market for GP Global and we are confident of securing a higher market share in both automotive and industrial segments in the coming years,” Sudip Shyam, global head for lubricants and base oils, GP Global Group said.
