BPCL 69th AGM: Chairman AK Singh Highlights achievements

New Delhi: Chairman of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited Mr. Arun Kumar Singh delivered a speech at the company's 69th Annual General Meeting.

On the occasion, he warmly welcomed and thank all the Directors, Representatives of the President of India, Representative of the Government of Kerala, Representatives of other major Shareholders, our Auditors, and all the Members attending this AGM. 

He said I would like to congratulate you on your Company improving its rank by 99 places to 295 in the Fortune Global 500 list of 2022. Only 9 Indian companies, including BPCL, have had the distinction of being featured in the coveted list based on consolidated revenues for the fiscal year ending on or before March 31, 2022. He further mentioned other major achievements by the company at Annual Meet. 

Highlights of Chairman's AGM Speech

• The amalgamation of Bharat Gas Resources Limited and Bharat Oman Refineries Limited, our wholly owned subsidiaries, with BPCL has been completed with effect from August 16, 2022 and July 1, 2022, respectively. 
• BPCL is slated to reap immense benefits of integration in the form of tax efficiencies, logistics and manpower synergies, capital structure economies and operational flexibilities. 
• Now let me share with you the pragmatism with which your Company is approaching new business opportunities. 
• Recognizing the need to diversify and create additional revenue streams as the energy landscape undergoes transformation, BPCL has, during 2021-22, created two new Business Units, namely, Renewable Energy and New Businesses, to pursue clean energy business and consumer retailing business in a focused manner. 
• These business units have formulated a detailed strategic roadmap and are taking definitive steps in the direction of realizing BPCL’s aspirations.
• Coming to the operational performance during the year 2021-22, BPCL has registered an improvement in physical parameters, with market sales of 42.51 MMT and crude throughput of 30.07 MMT on a standalone basis, as against 38.74 MMT and 26.40 MMT, respectively, in the previous year. 
• BPCL has achieved the number 1 position in market sales growth amongst the PSU Oil Marketing Companies. 
• On the financial front, the Profit After Tax stood at ? 8,789 crore on a standalone basis, as against Profit After Tax of ? 19,042 crore in the previous year. 
• The higher Profit After Tax last year was mainly due to the one-time gain on the sale of stake in Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Apart from this, during the year 2021-22, the gains due to higher refining margins were more than offset by the lower marketing margins and lower inventory gains, dragging our profits down. 
• The Board of Directors declared a total dividend of ? 16 per share on earnings of ? 41.31 per share for the year.
• The global energy landscape is changing, and we are changing too. BPCL has already taken action to diversify and expand into adjacent and alternate businesses which will not only provide additional revenue streams but also offer a hedge against any decline in the oil and gas business. 
• The Company has identified six strategic areas – Petrochemicals, Gas, Renewables, New Businesses, that is, Consumer Retailing, E-mobility and Upstream, which will serve as pillars of future growth and create sustainable value for all stakeholders, while the core business of refining and marketing of petroleum products continues to provide stability and funding bandwidth. 
• BPCL’s strategically located refineries and well laid out network of depots, installation, plants, and pipelines enable them to serve customers seamlessly at all times and also scale new peaks of growth.
• It was indeed a proud moment for BPCL when, during the year 2021-22, our 355-km Bina-Kanpur multi-product pipeline was dedicated to the nation by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. 
• BPCL’s topmost priority now is to enhance its presence in the Petrochemicals space.
• The company has planned two new projects – the Ethylene Cracker project at Bina Refinery and the Polypropylene project at Kochi Refinery, for which feasibility studies and other pre-project activities are underway.
• The projects are likely to take around four years for completion once the environmental clearance is received and are expected to come on stream by 2026-27. 
• Once commissioned, these will increase the share of petrochemicals in the Company’s product portfolio from around 1% currently to about 8%.
• In the City Gas Distribution segment of the natural gas business in the country, BPCL has further expanded its footprint, acquiring licenses for 8 new Geographical Areas in the recently concluded 11th and 11A CGD bidding rounds. 
• With this, BPCL has licenses for developing CGD networks in 25 GAs covering 62 districts. On an overall basis, the Company has interest in a total of 50 GAs covering 105 districts, inclusive of JVs. 
• Success in the past few rounds of CGD bidding has seen BPCL emerge as one of the top 3 CGD players in the country. Further, commercial operations have started at 8 new GAs during the year, while work in other GAs is progressing well. 
• Towards the cause of environment protection and aligned with the national priorities, BPCL has pledged its commitment to enhance its green footprint and moved ahead in this direction. 
• BPCL has articulated its aspiration to achieve net-zero emissions in Scope 1 and Scope 2 by 2040, a first among PSU Oil Marketing Companies, and has formed an Energy Transition Council to drive this objective. 
• The Renewable Energy business unit, while undertaking commercial ventures in the renewables space will be a major driver and contributor to the Company’s green initiative. 
• BPCL has planned to scale up its renewable energy portfolio from less than 50 megawatts today to 1 gigawatt by 2025 and 10 gigawatts by 2040
• BPCL has decided to expand its reach and presence in the non-fuel business to offer consumables, durables and services by leveraging BPCL’s pan-India network of over 20,000 Fuel Stations and 6,200+ LPG Distributors. 
• Developed a unique digitally enabled omni-channel business model to provide fuel and non-fuel offerings to the lowest strata of the Indian market, through engagement of rural women folk entrepreneurs called "Urja Devis". 
• The company has come out with an innovative concept of creating Highway Fast Charging Corridors to address the range anxiety related to four-wheelers. 
• On a pilot basis, the Company has adopted 900 km of the Chennai-Trichy-Madurai highway, NH-45, where it has set up a recharge facility at every 100 km distance at its Retail Outlets along both sides of this stretch. 
• BPCL plans to extend this facility across 200 highway corridors with around 2,000 Retail Outlets in the year 2022-23
• The Company has formed alliances with various electric two-wheeler companies to provide fast charging facilities at its Retail Outlets and plans to expand its business in the e-mobility space as the market grows.
• In the upstream space, Bharat PetroResources Limited, has achieved a major milestone in the development of one of its biggest exploration assets – the BM Seal 11 Concession in Brazil, with the consortium submitting Declaration of Commerciality for the oil and gas discovery in December 2021. 
• BPCL has recently received the approval of Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs for the proposed investment of approximately USD 1.6 billion in the asset. 
• On the Mozambique front, where BPRL along with other consortium members is developing the two train LNG project, the security situation is improving, and the consortium is working towards an early restart of the project. BPRL, with majority of its assets in the development and production phase, is well placed to generate positive cash flows in the future. 
• BPCL’s ‘Project Anubhav’ has delivered innovative applications and solutions with exceptional features 
• The company launched “Ufill”, a pioneering initiative, whereby the entire control of fueling the vehicle, right from payment at the time and place of his choice, to auto-presetting the fuel dispenser at the RO for the amount paid, rests with the customer. Today, UFill is active at more than 10,400 ROs and has a customer base of around 1 crore and growing. 
• BPCL recently achieved 10% blending of ethanol in petrol and is committed to increasing the blending percentage in line with the roadmap laid by the government. 
• In a highly competitive lubricants market, BPCL’s “MAK Lubricants” has established itself as a notable player in the country and is also recognized internationally, particularly in the SAARC and African countries. 
• The Company’s Aviation business registered a growth of 32% in Aviation Turbine Fuel sales over the previous year, achieving volumes of 1,050 TMT with a market share of nearly 22.3. 
• The year 2021-22 saw the BPCL brand reinforce its identity and increase its visibility as a progressive, customer-centric, environmentally concerned, socially inclined and digitally advanced organization. 
• The Company’s digital nerve center – IRIS – through its real time alerts & exception reporting features, has immensely contributed to fortifying the safety and security in the supply chain within the organization. The Company improved its rank from 10th in the previous year to become the 8th Best Company globally in the Oil and Gas sector in the year 2021-22 on Environment, Social and Governance, that is, ESG parameters on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index platform.
• BPCL has also been participating actively in various national-level initiatives and programs like Swachh Bharat Mission and Transformation of Aspirational Districts Program. 
• BPCL is maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance has been our prime objective and a constant pursuit. The Company has a well-defined Whistle Blower Policy, which facilitates greater transparency in all aspects of its functioning.
   

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