Gulf Oil to add 1000 distributors

Lubricants company Gulf Oil Corporation Ltd will add about 1,000 distributors to its network and plans to market automotive batteries and other accessories through the same channel.

"We will increase the strength of our distributors to 1,600 from the present 600 in the next 18 months to take on competition in the lubricants market from public sector companies," V Ramesh, executive director, GOCL, told reporters in Silvassa (Gujarat) on Monday night.

The company has drawn up plans to market batteries and other automotive accessories through its strengthened distribution network and would also focus on its car care products that currently formed a minor part of sales.

He said the company would make investments of Rs 5 crore (Rs 50 million) at its 75,000-tonne plant at Silvassa which included Rs 2.5 crore (Rs 25 million) for filling capacity, Rs 1-1.5 crore (Rs 10-15 million) for quality control and Rs 1-2 crore (Rs 10-20 million) for civil works.

Since 80 per cent of its sales come from retail segment and 20 per cent from industrial segment, GOCL has decided to focus on retail to try to graduate to a "level-playing field" with PSUs.

It would also increase its advertisement expenditure on retail segment.