Gulf Oil Lubricants India makes early moves into EV Charging Space

The Board of Directors of Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd (GOLIL), part of the Hinduja Group, has, today, approved to enter into an agreement with Gulf Oil International (GOI) to participate and co-invest in GOI's recent investment along with the Clean Growth Fund (CGF - a UK venture capital fund) in Indra, the UK Based Electric vehicle (EV) and smart energy technology company developing innovative charging and energy storage solutions for home and commercial use.

Indra Renewable Technologies Ltd (Indra), founded in 2013, manufactures a range of smart energy products, including electric vehicle Smart Charger and a bi-directional 'Vehicle to Grid' (V2G) charger designed for both residential and light commercial use. Investment in Indra is a key stepping-stone for Gulf into the e-mobility sector, with the view to accelerate investments and partnerships in this space in future.

With this investment, Gulf India will get access to an established technology in 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.

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

Ravi Chawla, MD & CEO - Gulf Oil Lubricants India Limited remarked: "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 synergise 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.

"The charging station market, as per estimates, is expected to have a good potential in coming years, where around 50-60% is expected to be in Residential Charging solutions which is where Indra is positioned to play. "Our prime focus would be passenger car and light commercial vehicle residential charging segment with Indra's Smart Chargers and we will also be evaluating opportunities in the two wheeler segment with Indra going forward. The market is also expected to disrupt with new technologies such as V2G (Vehicle to Grid) chargers which are already developed by Indra and could support the power requirements of individual homes as a back up and also offer huge opportunities to form partnerships with potential microgrid solution providers in the future.

"Indra's home grown R&D and technology and OEM approvals will be critical success factors in this endeavor. The investment by Gulf Oil International alongside with the Clean Growth Fund was announced on January 21st 2021.

Shares of Gulf Oil Lubricants India Ltd was last trading in BSE at Rs.691.4 as compared to the previous close of Rs. 690. The total number of shares traded during the day was 2590 in over 381 trades.

The stock hit an intraday high of Rs. 726.8 and intraday low of 678.3. The net turnover during the day was Rs. 1813554.

Source : Equity Bulls

Keywords