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 India’s flagship national oil company and downstream petroleum major,
Indian Oil Corporation Ltd has been celebrating its Golden Jubilee
during the period 30th June - 1st September 2009. Yesterday we
reported the unigue Kadri service station art gallery.
Today, 1st September, brings the special period of celebration to an
end with “Indian Oil Day”. PetrolWorld would like to take the
opportunity to recap the history of the IOC petrol retail network.
Having set up its first service station at Kochi in October 1962,
Indian Oil currently operates the country’s largest network of retail
outlets numbering over 18, 278 with focus on customer convenience. It
was the first oil marketing company to introduce the concept of
Multipurpose Distribution Centres (MPDCs) at its retail outlets located
in rural areas way back in 1975. These MPDCs served as one-stop
convenience shops, especially for farmers, and were the harbingers of
the modern Kisan Seva Kendra (KSK) successfully introduced by IndianOil
in 2006.
Over 2,550 specially formatted Kisan Seva Kendra outlets set up across
the country meet the diverse needs of the rural populace, offering a
variety of products and services such as seeds, fertilisers,
pesticides, farm equipment, medicines, spare parts for trucks and
tractors, tractor engine oils and pumpset oils, besides auto fuels and
kerosene. About 600 such Kendra are being added to the Corporation’s
marketing network every year. Indian Oil was chosen as the “Most
Admired Retailer of the Year” in the category of Rural Retailing at the
India Retail Forum during 2008.
As part of customer segmentation, exclusive XTRACARE outlets unveiled
in select urban and semi-urban markets offer a range of value-added
services to enhance customer delight and loyalty. Large format outlets
on highways cater to the needs of motorists, with multiple facilities
such as food courts, first aid, rest rooms and dormitories, spare parts
shops, etc. SERVOXpress has been launched as a one-stop shop for
autocare services. To safeguard the interest of the valuable customers,
interventions like retail automation, vehicle tracking and marker
systems have been introduced to ensure quality and quantity of
petroleum products.
Over the years, Indian Oil has also launched several branded products,
customer-focussed speciality products and customer rewards programmes.
New generation branded transportation fuels with multifunctional
additives are now available in major markets. Initiatives for cashless
transactions for customer convenience through co-brand credit cards and
fleet cards have met with great success.
IndianOil also enjoys a dominant share of the bulk consumer business,
including that of railways, state transport undertakings, and
industrial, agricultural and marine sectors. Its ISO-9002 certified
Aviation Service commands over 63% market share in aviation fuel
business, meeting the fuel needs of domestic and international flag
carriers, private airlines and the Indian Defence Services.
PetrolWorld 010909
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