Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani, the country’s two biggest business tycoons, on Wednesday announced a partnership for fuel retailing to leverage each other’s filling station networks. This is the second business collaboration between the two groups, after Reliance acquired stake in an Adani Power project in Madhya Pradesh last year.
The partnership will “redefine the auto fuel retail experience for Indian consumers” and enhance the retail supply of high-quality fuels, they said in a statement. Under the pact, select fuel outlets of Adani Total Gas (ATGL) will sell Jio-bp’s high-performance petrol and diesel, and its CNG dispensing units will be installed at the latter’s fuel outlets. The agreement covers both existing and future outlets of both partners.
ATGL — a joint venture of the Adani Group and French multinational TotalEnergies — is a city gas distribution (CGD) player and currently operates a network of around 650 CNG stations, while Jio-bp has a network of around 2,000 outlets. Jio-bp is a joint venture between Reliance Industries and British multinational bp.
On Wednesday, RIL share price rose 1.19% to end at Rs 1,467.25 apiece and Adani Total Gas gained 0.29% to close at `633.65.
Jio-bp chairman Sarthak Behuria said, “We are united by a shared vision to offer our customers a superior selection of high-quality fuels. Jio-bp has always been committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience, and this partnership allows us to leverage each other’s strengths to further enhance the value we provide to India.”
“It is our shared vision to provide complete range of high-quality fuels at our outlets. This partnership will enable us to leverage each other’s infrastructure, thus enhancing customer experience and offerings,” said Suresh P Manglani, executive director and chief executive officer, Adani Total Gas.
In their first-ever business collaboration, Ambani’s Reliance had picked up a 26% stake in Adani Power’s project in Madhya Pradesh and signed an agreement to use 500MW of electricity generated there for captive use.
