RIL, BP commence fuel retailing JV, to start re-branding petrol pumps

BP and Reliance Industries (RIL) on Thursday announced the commencement of their new fuel retailing and mobility joint venture, which will now also start re-branding RIL fuel retail outlets to Jio-BP.

The two companies in a joint statement announced the start of the joint venture named Reliance BP Mobility Limited (RBML). The new joint venture also looks to provide electric vehicle charging and other low carbon solutions over time.

In December 2019, RIL and BP had signed a definitive agreement for the joint venture and announced that the retail operations will be run under the Jio-BP branding. The agreement also said RIL will transfer ownership of its existing fuel retail network and access to its aviation fuel business to the new joint venture.

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Thursday’s statement added that RBML has received the marketing authorisation for transportation fuels among other necessary regulatory and statutory approvals. “The joint venture will begin selling fuels and Castrol lubricants with immediate effect from its existing retail outlets, which will be rebranded to “Jio-BP” in due course,” it added. Castrol is a BP-owned brand.

BP has paid RIL $1 Billion for a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture, while RIL will hold the remaining stake. “Following initial agreements in 2019, BP and RIL teams have worked closely over the past few months in a challenging environment to complete the transaction as planned,” the joint statement said.

The joint venture looks to expand the current fuel retailing network of 1400 outlets, to 5,500 over the next five years. The statement added the expansion will also lead staff augmentation. “This rapid growth will require a four-fold increase in staff employed in service stations – growing from 20,000 to 80,000 in this period,” it said.

In the aviation fuel supply segment, the joint venture looks to increase its presence from 30 to 45 airports in the coming years.It will leverage Reliance’s presence across 21 states and its millions of consumers through the Jio digital platform, the statement said.

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“Reliance is expanding on its strong and valued partnership with BP, to establish a pan-Indian presence in retail and aviation fuels. RBML will aim to be a leader in mobility and low carbon solutions, bringing cleaner and affordable options for Indian consumers with digital and technology being our key enablers,” said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director for RIL.