Castrol India Limited was incorporated in the year 1979 as a private limited company under the name of Indrol Lubricants and Specialities Pvt. Ltd. The Company is a part of Castrol Limited UK (part of BP Group). BP through its wholly owned subsidiary, Castrol Limited UK holds 51% stake in Castrol India. It is engaged in the business of manufacturing & marketing of automotive and industrial lubricants and related services. It has three manufacturing plants located at Patalganga in Maharashtra, Paharpur in West Bengal and Silvassa (Union Territory).
Castrol India provides a high performance range of products and services across automotive, industrial and marine and energy segments. It is the market leader in the retail automotive lubricant segment, providing iconic, high performance brands like Castrol EDGE, Castrol MAGNATEC and Castrol GTX for passenger cars; Castrol Power1 and Castrol Activ for motorcycles and Castrol CRB, Castrol RX and Castrol VECTON for trucks, amongst various others including specialty products. The company also offers a complete range of products for industrial applications and is market leader in corrosion preventives and metal cutting fluids segment.
In the year 1982, the company was converted into a public limited company. The company set up a modern blending plant and brake fluid plant at Patalganga.
In the year 1985, the company commissioned the brake fluid plant and the lube oil blending plant. In June 27, 1986, they commissioned the second Phase of lube oil refining plant. In the year 1987, the company formed a subsidiary company in the year under the name of Indtech Specialty Chemicals Ltd. for the manufacture of telephone cable jellies, pharmaceuticals jellies and industrial waxes in technical collaboration with Dussek Campbell, U.K.
On November 1, 1990, the name of the company was changed from Indrol Lubricants & Specialities Ltd to Castrol India Ltd. In the year 1992, Indtech Speciality Chemicals, a wholly owned subsidiary merged with the company with effect from January 1, 1992. In the year 1994, they set up a new plant in Silvassa, Union Territory of Dadra/ Nagar Haveli at a cost of Rs 50 crore to the technology for lubricant blending.
In the year 1995, the company formulated a satellite-linked management information system (MIS), connecting the vast network and also obtained the ISO 9002 certification. The company introduced the Tractormax and RX Super Plus for the diesel engines. Also, they launched two stroke engine oils Jett X and Super TT; both exceed the Japanese Automobile Standards Organisation (JAPO) specifications. The company signed an agreement with Hindustan Powerplus as sole supplier of lubricants for Caterpillar engines.
In the year 1997, the company made an agreement with Maruti Udyog, India's largest car producer. The deal made to sell high performance Castrol products, through Maruti Udyog dealer outlets and authorized service stations.
In the year 2000, the company introduced Castrol Active 4T, an engine oil for 4 stroke bikes and also the GTX Magnetic for passenger cars, accompanied with a print campaign that stresses the molecular attraction of the lubricant, allowing it to stick to engine parts, even when it is switched off. Also, the company made tie up with TELCO and LML for sourcing customised lubricants for various vehicles manufactured by these companies. Also, they entered into strategic alliances with several automotive and industrial majors with a view to developing a customise products and services for the Indian market.
In the year 2001, the company launched 'Castrol call-for-a-can' whereby Castrol products including motorcycle, scooter and car engine oils, coolants and brake fluids will be available to customers over phone. Tata BP Lubricants India Ltd was amalgamated with the company following Tata group's decision to exit the lubricants business in the year 2001 themselves.
In the year 2002, the company launched the CRB Turbo special oil for new generation turbocharged vehicles. They launched a slew of integrated marketing plans. In the year 2003, the company made their footprint into motorcycle servicing business with the launch of 'PrimaZona' brand of franchisee workshop.
In the year 2004, the company entered into tie-ups with Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Cummins and International Tractors Ltd. In December 2004, they entered into a distribution agreement with Essar Oil Ltd for the sale of Castrol Lubricants through Essar Oil's outlets all over India.
In the year 2005, the company strengthened their relationship with two wheeler consumers through the introduction of Castrol Franchised Motorcycle Servicing Centers - Castrol Bike Zones. They also launched Castrol Edge, an international quality engine oils for cars.
In January 2006, the company unveiled the Castrol EDGE, a specially formulated, premium quality engine oil engineered to meet the toughest and most demanding performance standards.
In October 2007, the company entered into a strategic partnership alliance with Volvo Cars India for supply of high performance lubricants. In May 2008, they launched their flagship Castrol BikeZone at Kukatpally Housing Board in Hyderabad.
In the year 2009, the company expanded the installed capacity of Lubricating Oils/Greases/Brake by 47,946 KL to 236,000 KL. In the year 2010, the company launched advance performance series and protector series range of greases, gear oils and coolants, across different vehicle segments.
In the year 2011, the company launched Castrol Activ Scooter, India's first gearless scooter engine oil with unique Scootek technology. They also launched new generation grinding fluids based on the latest generation of EHVI hydrocracked oils and technology performance additives. The company re-launched Castrol Edge, fully synthetic oil for high performance with advanced Titanium Fluid Strength Technology. The bp brand was re-launched with a proposition of 'cleaner engine' supported by new 'Cleanguard' technology.
In 2012, Castrol India launched Castrol Activ Scooter - India'S First Gearless Scooter Engine Oil. Castrol Crb Turbo Wins National Awards For Packaging Excellence. Castrol Crb Turbo Relaunched With Durashield' Boosters. The company launched its new engine oil - Castrol GTX Modern Engine ' especially created for today's new generation, petrol cars.
In 2013, Castrol Industrial lubricates NASA's wheels of success-began its exciting mission on Mars in early August, an innovative Castrol Industrial lubricant called Castrol Braycote 601 EF helped ensure the smooth operation of Curiosity, from its wheels to its cameras.
In 2014, Castrol India Limited and Triumph Motorcycles signed an agreement for a partnership in India.
In 2015, Castrol India Ltd joins the Bloodhoud Project for providing high performance lubricants, brake and hydraulic fluids for use in the BLOODHOUND Supersonic Car -the 1,000 mph. Castrol India won a Bronze Effie Award for being one of the best Digital Campaigns in 2014.
On 21 September 2015, Castrol India announced that the company has decided to permanently close its Wadala, Mumbai facility. The company performed techno-commercial evaluation of the activities carried out at Wadala and based on the outcome it has been decided to close this facility. The company does not carry out any production/manufacturing activity at Wadala facility. The company's Technology Centre is currently housed at Wadala, which provides R&D support to the business and the decision about carrying out R&D activities at different location will be taken in due course after thorough evaluation.
On 20 September 2016, BP announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Castrol Limited, has sold a further tranche of the shareholding it holds in Castrol India. On 20 September 2016, Castrol Limited sold 8.5% shareholding held in Castrol India to a range of domestic and international investors. The sale followed a similar sale in May 2016 of an 11.5% shareholding in Castrol India. As a result of the two sales, BP now holds 51% interest in Castrol India. BP, through Castrol Limited, intends to continue as the majority shareholder in Castrol India.
On 21 September 2016, Tata Motors and Castrol India signed a new Strategic Partnership Agreement, which will see the two companies working even closer together going forward. Castrol is a major supplier, approved by Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Division to provide the entire range of lubricants including engine oils, gear oils, transmission fluids and ancillary products. As part of the ongoing partnership, Castrol provides Tata Motors workshops with the high performance Professional series of lubricants including Castrol GTX Professional Diesel, Castrol MAGNATEC Professional T5W30 and Castrol EDGE 0W40 engine oils. Through its wide distribution network, covering over one-lakh retail outlets across the country, Castrol enables Tata Motors workshops and retail customer's access to the complete range of Castrol's pioneering technology lubricants. Both the companies also work closely in the area of safety and skill development in Tata Motors Franchised workshops, besides collaborating on joint campaigns and promotional activities to generate further footfalls in workshops.
On 4 July 2017, Castrol India announced that it has passed on full benefits of the change in tax rate in its pricing from 1 July 2017 following the introduction of nationwide Goods and Services Tax (GST).
The Board of Directors of Castrol India at its meeting held on 7 November 2017 recommended the issue of Bonus Shares in the ratio of 1 (one) bonus equity share for every 1 (one) existing equity share held on record.The Company has, on 26 December 2017, allotted 49,45,61,192 Equity Shares of Rs. 5/- as fully paid-up bonus equity shares.
Castrol India won the Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award 2018 for fostering a culture of innovativeness. Castrol India's Patalganga plant was the winner of the Golden Peacock Occupational Health & Safety Award 2018 in the industrial sector.
The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organisation in March 2020. Following which, the Government of India then announced a nationwide lockdown for six weeks and thereafter, a partial lock down in certain parts of the country. The manufacturing facilities of the company at Patalganga(Maharashtra),Silvassa(UT-DNHDD), and Paharpur(West Bengal) which were closed on 23 March 2020 following countrywide lockdown due to COVID-19,resumed operation in a phased manner from the second week of May 2020.
Castrol India won recognition in the coveted ET Best Brands 2020 list. Castrol CONNEKT digital app won the Best B2B Campaign for the Castrol Super Mechanic contest at the ET Brand Equity India Digiplus Awards 2020.
In 2021, Castrol Auto Service (CAS) network expanded to 94 centers in more than 40 cities enabling customers to grow their business and offer specialized services to their clients.
In 2021, Company was the first player in India to launch new products with BS-VI ready technology for both passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The Service Optimizer 99+ (SO99+) launched in March 2021, helped to digitalize its Supply Chain replenishment capability through advance demand and supply planning. The new Castrol MAGNATEC, India's widest range of fully synthetic, BS-VI ready engine oils with the latest performance specifications was launched in 2021 to meet low-SAPS requirement for BS-VI cars and SUVs. Widely promoted through on-ground promotions and digital media, it generated awareness about new engine oil requirements of BS-VI engines and Castrol MAGNATEC's superior product offering.
In FY'21, Company launched new products for cruiser bikes (Castrol Activ Cruise) and full synthetic performance oils in the premium segment for two-wheelers (Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE). In passenger car oils, it launched Castrol GTX SUV oils for sports utility vehicles. It commissioned Castrol Express Oil Change services for two wheelers in urban Jio-bp mobility stations. Apart from these, it entered new segments such as Robotics while launching lubricants for industry sectors like textiles.
In 2022, Castrol Auto Service (CAS) expanded and reached a milestone of 230 workshops across 110 cities in India. Further, Castrol India expanded CAS to start serving four-wheeler electric cars and help set up EV charging infrastructure across its network. On 25 Nov' 22, Castrol India got into a strategic collaboration with ki Mobility Solutions (KMS), to expand India's automotive aftermarket ecosystem via myTVS', for two and four-wheelers. It acquired a 7% stake in KMS with a planned investment of Rs. 487.5 Crores. It launched Castrol POWER1 ULTIMATE in 100% recycled bottles, made from reprocessed plastic waste. Further, it commissioned 42 Castrol Express Oil Change services for two-wheelers in urban Jiobp mobility stations.
