Chennai Petroleum Corporation gets govt nod for foray into retail marketing of petrol, diesel

Representational image.
| Photo Credit: Vijaykumar Soneji

Oil refiner Chennai Petroleum Corporation (CPCL) has received Government of India approval for a foray into retail marketing of petrol and diesel.

Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry conveyed the government’s approval to the company to exercise retail marketing rights to market Motor Spirit (MS) and High Speed Diesel (HSD), CPCL informed stock exchange on Tuesday (May 27, 2025).

Coming around the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Chennai-headquartered company, the retail licence paves way for CPCL’s transformation from a standalone refiner to oil marketeer. A group company of the State-owned Indian Oil Corporation since 2002, CPCL has over the years enhanced capacity of its refinery in suburban Manali, near Chennai, to the existing 10.5 million tonne.

It used to operate a smaller, 1 MT refinery in Nagapattinam that since has been dismantled to make way for a 9 million tonne refinery and petrochemicals project proposed as a joint venture between Indian Oil and CPCL. Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the refinery project in February 2021 and over time officials had told media about the progress of land acquisition.

In March 2024, Indian Oil Board had approved a revision in cost of the Cauvery Basin Refinery and Petrochemicals project from ₹29,361 crore to ₹33,023 crore and a change in the capital structure of the JV to 75% for IOC and 25% for CPCL – from the earlier equal holding.

CPCL (formerly Madras Refineries) would seek to capitalise on its brand identity as a major refiner on east coast and widely expected to initially consider setting up retail outlets for marketing petrol and diesel in the south India. When contacted, the company said there is little at this stage beyond the exchange filing to elaborate on the retailing foray.

At present, the standalone refiner’s products are marketed by parent IOC. After MRPL (Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals) got into fuel retailing, CPCL remains the only standalone refiner in the country. As per media reports, MRPL is eyeing 1,000 retail outlets and around 1 million tonnes of petrol and diesel sales by 2030.

Fuel retailing will emerge as a stream of additional revenue for the Chennai-headquartered company though a lot depends on access to stocks after offtake by Indian Oil.