Gulf Oil Lubricants to Explore EV Charging Options, with Gulf Oil International

Mumbai based Hinduja Group, lubricant manufacturing, and marketing company, Gulf Oil Lubricants India has announced its partnership with Gulf Oil International to explore and invest in electric vehicle charging opportunities.

Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd (GOLIL) has signed an agreement with Gulf Oil International (GOI) to participate and co-invest in Gulf Oil International’s recent investment along with the Clean Growth Fund.

However, recently in January, Gulf Oil International has entered an agreement to co-invest alongside the Clean Growth Fund (CGF) in Indra, the fast-growing electric vehicle (EV) and smart energy technology company developing innovative charging and energy storage solutions for home and commercial use.

CGF and Gulf will each become shareholders in Indra, alongside OVO Group, which had provided seed capital and technical support to Indra via Kaluza, its technology business.

According to the firm’s estimates, the charging station market is expected to have a good potential in coming years, wherein around 50-60 percent is expected to be in residential charging solutions which is where Indra is positioned to play.

Speaking on their new venture, the MD and CEO of Gulf Oil Lubricants India, Ravi Chawla stated, “With the evolving EV space in India, where charging options will become an important decision criterion, we are excited about this association.”

“As we continue to evolve our strategy in this space, we will look at opportunities where we can leverage and synergize the Indra technology with our brand, distribution, OEM/ Infra-B2B customer relationships in India, to cater for the future market and consumer requirements in this space,” Chawla added.

Interestingly, after the investment in the new venture, Gulf India will get access to an established technology in electric vehicle (EV) charging space to adopt the same for Indian conditions and leverage its wide distribution and brand strengths to extend Gulf Branded residential and commercial charging points as per the evolving needs of Indian consumers.

Consequently, Gulf India will become a shareholder with CGF and GOI in Indra, alongside OVO Group, which provided seed capital and technical support to Indra via Kaluza, its technology business.

The company says it will focus more on passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, residential charging segment with Indra’s smart chargers while it evaluates opportunities in the two-wheeler segment.

Mike Schooling, Indra’s founder and Chief Technology Officer stated, “Indra is all about technology and using it to support the journey to Net-Zero. Thanks to the early investment by OVO Group, and now with the investment from the Clean Growth Fund and Gulf, we are in a very strong position to take full advantage of the growing EV market and the emergence of V2G solutions in the UK and globally”.

“At Gulf, we believe fast, convenient, and smart charging are critical to support consumer adoption of EVs. The combination of Gulf’s global footprint and consumer brand, with Indra’s extensive knowledge and expertise of energy systems and EVs, will enable Indra to grow its business and customer base internationally with a particular focus on India,” said Mike Jones, CEO of Gulf Oil International Ltd.

“This is a key market for Gulf where we will leverage our strong brand presence and distribution network to grow a revenue stream outside the UK,” Mike added.