Gulf Oil Lubricants Mulls Making Two-Wheeler Batteries in India

Gulf Oil Lubricants India is reportedly eyeing manufacture of two-wheeler batteries in India, a business it ventured into two years ago. The company sells batteries under the brand name Gulf Pride.

“The battery business makes more sense now. With electric vehicles coming, we need more batteries. Currently, we are importing the batteries from a manufacturer who makes them globally for BMW. Later on, we might look at manufacturing batteries in India,” Mr. Ravi Chawla, Managing Director, Gulf Oil Lubricants, was quoted as saying in an interview with Hindu BusinessLine newspaper.

Impact of electric vehicles

The lubricant market in India is growing at 2-3% annually. “This will go on for the next 15 years, even at the conversion rates of vehicles anticipated by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM). But, after that, there could be a slight slowdown with huge challenges in converting to electric vehicles,” said Mr. Chawla.

“We don’t see any impact for the next 10-15 years, but we need to be ready because if electric vehicles come in a big way, engine oils, which are 40 per cent of the market, will come to zero,” he informed. The Indian lubricant market, the world’s third-largest, is estimated to be worth $4.5-bn, at about 2,500 million litres.

Earlier this year, Gulf Oil opened a new lubricant plant at Ennore near Chennai with an investment of Rs. 200-crore to add to the blending plant it runs at Silvassa. “This will take care of our growth for the next 3-4 years,” Mr. Chawla said adding that the company will augment its product portfolio by launching a new range of greases.