IOCL forms JV with Total SA to provide bitumen derivatives

Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) has formed a 50:50 joint venture (JV) company with French multinational integrated oil & gas company- Total SA, to manufacture and market high-quality bitumen derivatives and speciality products for the growing road infrastructure industry in India.

The manufacturing and marketing of innovative bitumen formulations and superior quality products such as polymer-modified bitumen, crumb rubber-modified bitumen, bitumen emulsions, and other speciality products would be carried out by utilising both the companies’ R&D as well as marketing strengths. Bitumen is a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation which is used for road surfacing and roofing.

IOCL’s management informed that the JV company would cater to B2B customers involved in road infrastructure development both in the government and private sectors. In the first four years, six new greenfield plants would be set up at Panipat (Haryana), Koyali (Gujarat), Haldia (West Bengal), Barauni (Bihar), Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) and Chennai (Tamil Nadu) for which, Rs 226 crore would be invested.

The JV has plans to set up manufacturing units across India with cost-effective logistics solutions along with keeping innovation by maintaining the safety and sustainability of its operations. It will also be catering to the South Asian markets.

The demand for aggregate material and manufactured material for the highway construction and rehabilitation sector in India is very high as the Indian government has been initiating huge projects like Bharatmala, which envisages the development of 34,800 km of roads at an estimated investment of over Rs 5 lakh crore in the first phase.

On Tuesday, in the early morning session, the stock of IOCL surged 1.7 per cent to Rs 95.20 from its previous close of Rs 93.60 on BSE.