New Delhi, Sept 14: Reliance Industries, the country's largest private sector oil firm, has bid to acquire 100 petrol pumps in Sri Lanka. Besides RIL, state-run Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd (HPCL) too have bid for securing a retail licence in the island nation, industry sources said.
IBP Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the country's largest refiner Indian Oil Corp (IOC) that took over Sri Lankan national oil company Ceylon Petroleum Corp's 100 petrol stations earlier this year, is the fourth Indian firm in the fray. Sri Lanka, which last month invited expression of interest from oil companies to sell state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corp's 100 petrol stations, has asked bidders to submit non-binding financial bids, technical proposals and a business plan by October 21.
Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, bid through a local agent, McLarence Lubricants Ltd. France's total SA and state-controlled oil companies from China, Malaysia and Thailand are among the 22 bidders in race. Sources said RIL, which regularly exports petrol and diesel to Sri Lanka from its 30 million tonnes per annum Jamnagar refinery in Gujarat, is trying to secure a retail presence in the island nation to channel its surplus output.
As of now, the company does not have a retail network of its own in India and sells some 13.1 million tonnes of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene to state-run oil retailers. It exported 2.16 million tonnes of products during April-June this year. Bureau Report