Shaping the Destiny of a Public Sector Enterprise

Volume 18, Number 4 Article by J Ramachandran & Vani Venkatesh December, 2006

Shaping the Destiny of a Public Sector Enterprise :

The company now known as Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has been in India in some form for a very long time. Beginning with the consolidation of Asiatic Petroleum in India in 1907 under the name Shell, it was registered in London as the Burmah Shell Oil Company in 1928. With the inevitable nationalisation of oil majors in 1976, the company entered an era of constraint and collapsed to a meagre 15% in market share. After a period of inaction, BPCL embarked on an effort to resurrect itself, involving extensive representations with the government to increase its share of allocation of new business opportunities. J Ramachandran and Vani Venkatesh spoke to its Chairman and Managing Director, Ashok Sinha, to understand the journey from the days of steady decline to the current position of leadership in thought, action and innovation.

Acting with far reaching vision and foresight, BPCL has consistently nurtured its employees and picked the best entrepreneurs as its dealers. In an era of public sector dominance where customers were taken for granted, it was one of the first companies to think of the customer. Having first established a unique identity for itself among the Indian oil companies, it set out to build a brand based on three core values – caring, reliable and innovative, and the daring guarantee of ‘Pure for Sure’. It has several ‘firsts’ and ‘biggests’ in India to its credit – first to introduce premium fuel, first bottled gas, largest loyalty programme and largest convenience store network to name a few. Embedded in the company’s DNA are the courage, conviction and pride that got BPCL to where they are today, and the appetite for innovation and change that will keep them ahead of the curve.

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