Gulf Oil Lubricants looking at buyouts to boost EV infra play
Gulf Oil Lubricants India is looking to acquire charge point operators (CPOs) and companies in intelligent grid technology space as part of a strategy to become a leader in the electric vehicle charging ecosystem, top executives said.
«We are looking at the complete value chain. From manufacturing to research and technology,» said Mike Jones, CEO of Gulf Oil International, a London-headquartered Hinduja group firm. «We started from one end of the value chain by manufacturing EV chargers and are now looking to move to the rest as we want Gulf to be around for another 100 years,» he told ET.
The intelligent or smart grid technology is a combination of hardware chargers and software to boost efficiency of electrical grids or networks by enabling bi-directional communication. Smart grids allow a car to send energy to various recipients using digital technologies, sensors, and software to better match the supply and demand of electricity in real time.
Muted sales of lubricants globally as various developed countries are in the process of phasing out ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles and promoting electric vehicles along with the need for a charging infrastructure in EV markets have prompted many lube companies and fuel retail firms to enter the EC charging space.
Jones, though, emphasised that India has been outperforming the global lube markets, expanding at two-to-three times the global average.
Therefore, with the core lubricant business «doing extremely well in India — its biggest market globally», Gulf
