ABSTRACT

The petroleum sector in the country has undergone a sea of change

in the last few years. The industry, which was monopolistic only a
few years back, has been subjected to the biggest shakeup due to
changed government polices and the impending threat of
privatization. With an increase in expendable income of an ever
growing middle class, resulting in the increased consumption of
fuel, a trend has been set which we have been seeing for some time
now.
The PSUs dealing in the marketing of oil have been jolted into
action, with BPCL taking the lead in an effort to provide better
service, more value for money, induct and retain more customers,
thereby leading to increased sales and marketing share.
This was achieved through the launching of various initiatives, the
most important and successful of which was its in-house loyalty
program, being offered as Petro Card and SmartFleet card, in
retail.
The Petro Card was first of its kind in India in oil sector, to include
the loyalty of the customers by offering various gamuts of rewards
and benefits on fuel and lubricant purchase. Soon the company did
a survey to find the effectiveness and response of Petro Card and
they spotted the inclination of the most potential customers
towards the Petro Card market. This segment comprised of the
transportation/ big transporters market.

The company realized that the customer in this segment was bulk
buyer, who bought fuel in huge quantities. The consumption was
high and the need was there.
A typical transporter having a fleet size of 50 vehicles buys about
100 kilo liters of fuel every month. This market was untapped with
loyalty cards and had a huge potential. In January 2001, the
company came out with SmartFleet card.
The card had various features specially designed for the unorganized transporter market. With the introduction of card, came
the concept of customer relationship management. This was
important because to acquire the customer, it was necessary to
make the customer shift to this system and take a step towards
organizing the un-organized segment, as this system has been
based on latest technology.
The future of oil marketing lies in the customer and their loyalty
towards the company. Its all about doing the right things in a
different manner.

Index
Preface..4
Acknowledgement5
Statement of objective..6
1. Introduction
1.1 History7
1.2 Origin of BPCL...8
1.3 Retail SBU.12
1.4 Smart Fleet card an overview13
2. Research methodology18
2.1 Research design
2.2 Sampling
2.3 Data collection
3. Analysis and findings.19
4. Conclusions.27
5. Limitation of the study...29
6. Questionnaire..30
7. Bibliography31

PREFACE
This project titled as Assessment of changing needs
of big ticket transporters and individual drivers separately to
check out a sales strategy for both involves the study of the big
transporters as well as individual drivers problems related to sales
or many more and find out ways for further improvement. This
project has been undertaken in BPCLs retail department at the
NOIDA regional office.
This study is based on market research. About 20% of the total
time of the project was spent in developing the background about
the field and to understand the concept of the project, 50% of the
time was dedicated to field survey, and the rest was spent on
analyzing the data and compiling the report.
The report is divided into seven chapters. It begins with the
companys profile and then towards the sales strategy. The next
part explains the research methodology, and then comes the actual
study, which involves the analysis of the raw data into inferences
that may be further used as conclusive research. The ball moves on
the limitation of the study, conclusion drawn and suggestions to the
company toward the sales strategy related to big transporter and
individual drivers.
The study was conducted by using a structured questionnaire
which is given at the back of report.

Project Guide
Mr. Achman Trehan
Regional Fleet Sales Manager (Retail), North
4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I express my sincere thanks to Mr. Achman Trehan (Regional
Fleet Sales Manager), Ms. Jasmine Singh (Dy. Manager Fleet
Sales Retail), for sparing their time and efforts to share with us
valuable information about the company and its products, and also
helping me in collecting and shaping the data to make it worth
presentable.
I would specially like to thanks Mr. Anurag Chaudhary
(Assistant Manager) and Mr. Ankur Rustgi (Assistant Manager),
fleet sales for educating me about the ways all the marketing
efforts and practical forms in the Indian marketplace. It has been
an excellent learning experience. My sincere thanks to all the
operators at the retail outlets and the fleet card customer for the
information they have provided to me.
Nishant Mathur

STATEMENT OF OBJECTIVE

1. To find out basic needs and expectation of big transporters

and individual drivers from BPCL.
2. To measure the satisfaction of big transporters and individual
towards the sales strategy.
3. To suggest the ways towards further improvement in sales
strategy for big transporters and individual drivers.
4. To find out the issues faced by big ticket transporters as well
as individual drivers.

ORGNIZATIONS PORTRAITURE
1.1. History
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is one of
India's largest PSU companies, with Global Fortune 500 rank of
287 (2012). Its corporate office is located at Ballard Estate,
Mumbai. As the name suggest, its interests are in petroleum sector.
Its involved in the refining and retailing of petroleum products.
Bharat Petroleum is considered to be a pioneer in Indian petroleum
industry with various path-breaking initiatives such as Pure for
Sure campaign, Petro Card, Fleet card etc.
BPCL's growth post-nationalization (in 1976) has been
phenomenal. One of the single digit Indian representatives in the
Fortune 500 & Forbes 2000 listings, BPCL is often referred to as
an MNC in PSU garb. It is considered a pioneer in marketing
initiatives, and employs best in class practices.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) specializes in
refining, processing, and distributing petroleum products. It offers
petrol, diesel, aviation fuel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and
lubricants. The company primarily operates in India, where it is
headquartered in Mumbai and employs about13, 968 people.
The company recorded revenues of INR 1,112,431 million
(approximately $ 27,632.8 million) in the fiscal year ended March
2012, an increase of 13% over 2011. Its net profit was INR 17,696
million (approximately $ 439.6 million) in fiscal year 2012, a
decrease of 17.5% compared to 2012.

1.2. Origin of BPCL

The 1860s saw vast industrial development. A lot of petroleum
refineries came up. An important player in the South Asian market
then was the Burmah Oil Company Ltd. Though incorporated in
Scotland in1886, the company grew out of the enterprises of the
Rangoon Oil Company, which had been formed in 1871 to refine
crude oil produced from primitive hand dug wells in Upper
Burmah. The search for oil in India began in 1886, when Mr. Good
enough of McMillan Stewart Company drilled a well near Jay pore
in upper Assam and struck oil. In1889, the Assam Railway and
Trading Company (ARTC) struck oil at Digboi marking the
beginning of oil production in India.
While discoveries were made and industries expanded, John Rocke
feller together with his business associates acquired control of num
erous refineries and pipelines to later form the giant Standard Oil
Trust. The largest rivals of Standard Oil Royal Dutch, Shell, and
Rothschild came together to form a single organization: Asiatic
Petroleum Company to market petroleum products in South Asia.
In 1928, Asiatic Petroleum (India) joined hands with Burmah Oil
Company an active producer, refiner and distributor of petroleum p
roducts, particularly in Indian and Burmese markets. This alliance
led to the formation of Burmah-Shell Oil Storage and Distributing
Company of India Limited. A pioneer in more ways than one,
Burmah Shell began its operations with import and marketing of
Kerosene. This was imported in bulk and transported in 4 gallon
and 1 gallon tins through rail, road and country craft all over India.

With motor cars, came canned Petrol, followed by service stations.

In the 1930s, retail sales points were built with driveways set back
from the road.
Service station began to appear and became accepted as a part of
road development .after the war Burmah shell established efficient
and up to date service and filling station to give the customers the
highest possible stranded of service facilities.

Organization today
FROM BURMAH SHELL TO BHARAT PETROLEUM
Burmah Shell Refineries was incorporated as a company in 1952,
and established a refinery in Mahul, Mumbai. On 24 January 1976,
the Burmah Shell Group of Companies was taken over by the
Government of India to form Bharat Refineries Limited. On 1
August 1977, it was renamed Bharat Petroleum Corporation
Limited. It was also the first refinery to process newly found
indigenous crude Bombay High, in the country.
BHARAT PETROLEUM then and after
The company installed microprocessor based digital integrated
distributed control systems in catalytic reformers and introduced a
new solvent unit to replace the pneumatic control system in 1993.
Thecompany also installed an advanced control system for its catal
ytic control unit. The company then incorporated a joint venture
company, Bharat Oman Refineries, in 1994.
There after BPCL signed memorandum of understanding (MOU)
with Bank of Baroda in 1995 to launch the first co-branded credit
card in the country. In 1998, BPCL entered into a joint venture

with Petronet (India) for the construction of a 308 km pipeline

from Kochi in Kerala to Karur in Tamil Nadu.
The following are a few achievement achieved by BHARAT
PETROLEUM CORPORATION LTD:
BPCL launched Speed '93, its own brand of petrol, in
2003. In the following year, BPCL diversified its operation.
The company enters into a business e commerce arrangement
with IDBI bank to provide an automated payment and
purchase process to BPCLs corporate and industrial clients.
The company also tied up with tata consultancy services to
provide medical advisory and counseling services at gher, the
highway retiling initiative of BPCL.
In 2006, the Government of the Sultanate of Oman signed
an Exploration and Production sharing agreement (EPSA) for
the on land exploration block 56 with the consortium
comprising BPCL, oilex (operator), HPCL, GAIL India and
videocon industries. The same year, the company acquired a
20% interest in an exploration block in Australia.
McDonald's made an agreement with BPCL to open and run
restaurants at selected retail outlets across the country in
2000. Quickies, the global coffee chain, followed suit
in2001, and began ton offer its services at BPCL stores.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and GAIL formed
another joint venture company, Central UP Gas, for impleme
ntation of City Gas Projects in Delhi and Kanpur in 2005.

10

 In September 2008, BPCL and Videocon Industries Ltd

acquired 50% stake in Brazil's EnCana Brasil Petroleo
limeade.
BPCL and GAIL (India) Limited announced to form a joint
venture company, Gods Own Gas Company, for marketing
compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped gas in Kerala and
Karnataka, in March 2008.
In April 2008, BPCL announced the formation of joint
venture Company in consortium with other companies,
Shapoorji Pallonji Co Ltd and Nandan Biomatrix Ltd
for establishment of Bio Diesel Value Chain in Uttar Pradesh,
India. In the same month, BPCL and GAIL (India) Limited
signed an MOU for cooperation in transmission and
distribution of natural gas, LPG pipelines and city gas.
In August 2008, Punjab Energy Development Agency
(PEDA) signed a MoU with BPCL to step one M/W solar
photovoltaic power plants at Lalru in Punjab, India.
MAJOR PRODUCTS:Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) refines, stores,
markets and distributes petroleum products. The companys key
products and services include the following:
PRODUCTS
1. Petrol
2. Diesel
3. LPG
4. Kerosene
5. Lubricant
11

6. Aviation fuel
7. Fuel and solvents

SUBDIVISIONSThe organization structure of BPCL was revamped and seven new

strategic business units (SBUs) have been created. The new
structure is based on business processes, is flexible, more
responsive to external focus.
BPCL

Retail

Refinery

Gas

Lubricants

Industrial and

LPG

Aviation

commercial

Refinery

Mumbai refinery
Capacity of 12
MMTPA

Kochi refinery
Capacity of 8 MMTPA

12

Numaligarh refinery
Capacity of 3
MMTPA

Note MMTPA (Million Metric Tonnes per Annum)

1.3. RETAIL SBU

The retail business continues to operate in an extremely
challenging business environment. While the pricing of MS (Motor
spirit) was decontrolled with effect from 25 th June 2011, the
business continued to suffer significant under-recoveries on the
sales of HSD (high speed diesel). The public sector oil marketing
companies are facing liquidity problem mainly on account of these
under-recoveries.
Due to these reasons, many initiatives were undertaken, viz.
highway retailing strategy encompassing one stop truck shop
(OSTS)-GHAR for trucks, highway star initiative coupled with
SmartFleet card program for fleet owners and Petro Card program
for individual users. This type of program is running successfully
due to excellent network of retail outlet managed by
entrepreneurial dealers. BPCL currently has 10,310 retail outlets
across the country.
BPCL also recognizes the importance of the rural segment and
hence, nearly 50% of the new outlets are being commissioned in
the rural market. At the same time attention continues to be paid to
urban and highway outlets which also make a significant
contribution to the overall growth. Now BPCLs loyalty program
continues to be popular, especially among the fleet community. As
of march 2012, 16.07% of the retail sales happened through the
loyalty program.
13

1.4. SMART CARD - A SMART WAY TO CONTROL

YOUR FLEET
The genesis of the SmartFleet programme-

BPCL as a principle has decided to get further closer to its

customer. One of the potential segments is that of fleet operator.
The key need of this segment could be categorized into 3 parts:
1. Correct quality (Q&Q) of fuel.
2. Provision of certain facilities at retail outlets on the
highways.
3. Provision of certain value added service.
Working of SmartFleet card
14

SmartFleet card is a type of pre-paid card which is used for the

purchase of petrol, diesel or lubricant. The customer can load the
card either by depositing the recharge amount with the dealer of
BPCL RO having CMS uploading facilities or at the branch of
participating banks.
BENEFITS
1. Cashless TransactionThe customer enjoys the freedom of
paying for fuel, lubricants and items
bought at In & Out stores with his
SmartFleet card instead of cash. This
mode of payment does away with the
risk of highway theft and also facilities
collecting,
maintaining
and
reconciliation of bills.

2. Pure for Sure -The pure for sure movement by

BPCL is intended to ensure the right quantity and
quality of fuel to customers. All SmartFleet outlets
are pure for sure which ensures that customers can
enjoy the advantages of pure, unadulterated fuel.

3.Cash management system- Cash management

system is a feature of the CMS enabled SmartFleet
cards wherein a customer can manage the fund he
requires for fuelling centrally instead of loading it
individually on each SmartFleet card. He can
recharge the central pool account by depositing
cheques into branches of HDFC bank.
15

4. MIS Report - The SmartFleet programme makes it possible for

customers to have total control over fleet through monthly vehicle
report, which comprise of Individual vehicle report and
consolidated all vehicle monthly report.
5. Reward Customers can earn petro miles for every
transition done with SmartFleet card. Petromiles can
be exchanged for a wide range of exciting rewards.

6. Tier benefits-The Company recognizes

and appreciates its regular customers and
returns their loyalty with special
appreciation programs, which entitle
benefits. The more they use SmartFleet, the
more they gain.
There are the 4 levels of membership within
the SmartFleet programme and in ascending
hierarchy ranks-blue, silver, gold and
platinum. The higher the tier, the more are
the benefits and privileges.

16

8. Vehicle
tracking
Customers can take better
control over their fleet by
keeping track of the vehicle
and the last transaction
done. This helps them plan
their fleets travel schedule
in

2.

advance.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1. Research Design

A market survey was done in order to find out and analyze the
basic requirements of big ticket transporters and drivers of
trucks/tank lorries. Needs are related to types of problems they are
facing at BPCL ROs, whether they are getting proper responses,
and also additional facilities/amenities they require from BPCL.
With the help of survey findings, we can chalk out a sales strategy
for big transporters and individual drivers.
The results are in the form of inferences, which can be used as a
basis for further research in the related field.
2.2. Sampling
The questionnaire was answered by big transporters as well as
small transporters and individual drivers. Questionnaire
methodology ensured one to one interaction and guaranteed
collection of genuine data from the field.

2.3. Data collection

17

The entire data collected was from primary sources using the field
survey method. Primary sources were used to get recent first hand
information. It is important to explore the customer preference,
which is very dynamic. The areas covered under the survey were
the Sanjay Gandhi transport nagar of Delhi, BP Bilaspur, and BP35 (Companys RO).
At Sanjay Gandhi transport nagar, interaction was done with
transporters having fleet size ranging from (5 to 150) vehicles. The
sample size of survey at Sanjay Gandhi transport nagar consisted
of 90 transporters for which 14 days were utilized. The survey was
done in order to find out their fuelling pattern, monthly fuel
consumption, expectations and related queries. The aim behind this
whole exercise was to collect inputs for improving sales strategy.
After completing survey at Sanjay Gandhi transport nagar, a visit
was done to one company owned company operated (COCO) RO
named as BP Bilaspur. It is one of the largest selling retail outlets
of BPCL located in the state of Haryana, selling almost 200 kl
diesel and 10 to 15 kl petrol per day. Almost 400 vehicles visit this
retail outlet for fuelling everyday. The objective behind visiting
COCO was to collect some useful information from individual
drivers having their own trucks (1 to 2 vehicles). This data may be
helpful in increasing sales of BPCL. The sample size of survey at
BP Bilaspur consisted of 25 individual drivers for which 1 day was
utilized.
After completing survey at BP Bilaspur, a visit was done at one
more company owned company operated (COCO) RO named as
BP-35 located at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. The purpose behind visiting
one more COCO was to understand the automation system, safety
18

rules, quantity and quality checks and many more activities being
carried out at the RO. 3 days were utilized for this purpose
The language used in the questionnaire was English; it had been
translated in the vernacular for many respondents at the time of
taking the responses.
The raw data gathered during this survey from 115
respondents.

3. Analysis and findings

Having acquired the basic framework of the study, analysis of the
raw data gathered during the survey was done to draw inferences.
Based on the sequence of questions in the questionnaire, responses
are evaluated as shown in the next pages.

19

Q1.What is your fleet size?

Fleet size

Range

Small
Medium
Large

5 to 50
50 to 150
>150

No
of % Respondents
Respondents
88
76.52
22
19.13
5
4.34

Total Respondents 115

20

Q2. From which RO you prefer to take fuel?

Fuelling from
BPCL
Others
Any RO

No of Responses
44
39
32

21

% Responses
38.26
33.91
27.82

Q3.Are you get proper responses from our DSM at ROs?

Answer
YES
NO

No of Responses
50
6

Note DSM (driver sales men)

22

% No of Responses
89.28
10.72

Q4. Are you getting quality and quantity at BPCL RO?

Answer
YES
NO

No of Responses
46
10

23

% Responses
82.16
17.84

Q5. What is your fueling pattern?

Answer
SINGLE POINT
MULTIPOINT

No of Responses
87
28

% No of Responses
75.65
24.35

Total Respondents 115

24

Q6. Your monthly fuel consumption in Liters?

Range
100 to 500 Lts
>500 Lts

No of Responses
16
99

% No of Responses
14
86.0

Q7. What is your area of operation?

Ans- Received following responses to this open question:
Delhi to Rajasthan
25

Delhi to South
Delhi to NCR
Delhi to Gujarat
Delhi to Indor
Delhi to Kolkata
Delhi to Bombay
Delhi to Karnataka
Delhi to Uttrakhand
Delhi to Hyderabad
Delhi to Agra
Delhi to Bengal
Delhi to Punjab
Delhi to M.P
Delhi to Jammu
Delhi to Chattishgard

Note- From above it is observed that large numbers of

transporters are operating in the state of Rajasthan, Punjab,
Gujarat, and Jammu.
Q8.What types of benefits are you getting on purchase of fuel?
Ans Received following responses to this open question:
Fleet card and Petro Card advantages.
Rebate on cash purchase.
Got small gifts.
Q9. Expectation from us?
Ans Received following responses to this open question:
Required more rebate on purchasing on fuel.
26

 Ensure 100% quality and quantity at ROs.

Provide some kind of credit facilities

4. Conclusion
Few of the general findings about the whole survey are as follows:
1. Of 115 customers I met in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar,
38.28% customers were earlier using the IOCL or HPCL
petroleum services but now they are the customers of BPCL.
The credit goes to the services quality and quantity provided
by BPCL.
2. Of the total transporters/drivers surveyed, nearly 30% were
availing services of BPCL SmartFleet Card. These transporters
are using the FleetCard services very frequently, rest 70% are
also a very important segment and greater emphasis is required
in order to excel in this field which will eventually result in
increase in sales.
3. Majority of transporters surveyed need more facilities from
purchase of fuel.
For example
40% of transporters surveyed required more rebate on
purchasing on fuel.
60% of transporters surveyed required some kind of
credit facilities.
4. Transporters wanted credit.
For examples27

 New Kashmir transporter required 3 days credit facility.

Delhi golden transporter required 3 days credit facility
5. Marketing of FleetCard should be more aggressive in Sanjay
Gandhi Transport Nagar by us as currently; the marketing of
FleetCard of any of the three public sector oil companies is not
very aggressive.
6. Fuel redemption should be available to all kind of customers
rather than being restricted to gold and platinum customer
only.
7. DSM should be educated about fleet card benefits so as to be
able to act as SCCE for that particular RO.
8. The no. of FleetCard enabled ROs of BPCL is less
comparatively in Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar.
For example
Total numbers of ROs - 5
BPCL
-1
IOCL
-4
Fleet card enabled ROs-1
More should be the visibility of fleet card BPCL ROs and
thus more BPCL ROs should be terminalized.
9. Currently, monetary benefits in SmartFleet card are less as
compared to other oil marketing companies. It should be
increased to withstand competition.

28

5.

Limitations of the study

1. Sample size is small only 115 which may be adequate to
derive at a final conclusion.
2. Survey is conducted in restricted areas, so results may vary
when a larger area is covered.
3. The statistics shown in the report are not ends within
themselves and need to be proved further by conclusive
research.
4. Sometime people are reluctant to provide the exact
information, which may affect the overall result.

29

6. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CUSTOMER

Dear RespondentKindly help us out in completing the following questionnaire
meant for educational purpose.
Name of the transporterContact numberAddressDate1. What is your fleet size and which types of vehicle owned?
2. What is your area of operation?
3. From which RO you prefer to take fuel?
4. What is your fuelling pattern?
5. Your monthly fuel consumption in liters. ?
6. What types of benefits are you getting on purchase of fuel?
7. Expectation from us?
30

8. Do you get proper responses from our delivery men at ROs?

9. Are you getting quality and quantity at ROs?

7.

Bibliography http://www.bharatpetroleum.com
http://www.mySmartFleet.com
http://www.petrobouns.com
http://www.google.com
BPCL-Annual Report 2011-2012
SmartFleet manuals

31