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IBP joins branded fuel race with Josh

Shweta Rajpal Kohli in New Delhi

Speed, Power, Premium... and now Josh. Close on heels of the three leading oil marketing companies, IBP Co Ltd has jumped into the fray with the launched of its premium branded petrol under the name Josh.

To begin with, the company has introduced the new generation fuel in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Noida.

"We will be launching the fuel in Kolkata and Delhi shortly," a senior IBP official said.

The branded fuel of IBP is priced Rs 1.05 higher than normal petrol. The pricing is in line with Speed, the branded fuel of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd., which is around 30 paise cheaper compared to the branded petrol of the other two companies. IBP is also gearing up to launch its branded diesel.

Unlike IOC, the branded fuel that IBP has introduced does not contain a higher octane number but has special additives that help improve fuel efficiency. "We may consider introducing a higher octane number fuel in some cities," he said.

Within a few days of its launch, the company claims to have received a good response for its branded fuels.

In Noida, where the fuel is available at two retail outlets, Josh has been selling around 600 litres a day.

In Mumbai, IBP is selling close to 2,000 litres a day from six retail outlets and in Hyderabad it is selling around 3,000 litres a day from seven retail outlets.

"We have set a target of selling around 1,000 kilolitres countrywide per month," the official said.

IBP Co Ltd. was acquired by Indian Oil Corporation recently and has around 1600 retail outlets with a market share of 5 per cent across the country.

It is the fourth oil marketing company to introduce branded fuel in the country.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd launched its new generation petrol called Speed on July 24. A month later, Indian Oil introduced Premium and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd launched Power.

So far BPCL seems to have emerged as the market leader in the segment with close to 50 per cent market share in the branded fuel segment in Delhi, the only market so far where all the three players have launched the branded fuel.

While BPCL's Speed is selling close to 145 kilolitres per day in Delhi, Indian Oil's Premium has been selling around 90 kilolitre per day, and HPCL's Power sells around 75 kilolitre per day.

Experts say BPCL's increased market share could largely be due to its first mover advantage.

Already Speed accounts for 30 per cent of the total petrol sold at the outlets where it is available as well as 20 per cent of the total petrol sold in Delhi.

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