Aegis to set up inland depots in 7 states
Inks fuel cross-selling deal with Essar Oil
Ramiya Bhas. Mumbai
Aegis Logistics, a provider of supply management services to the petroleum and chemicals industries, plans to set up inland depots for warehousing and storage of liquefied petroleum gas in the seven states it operates in.
Anish Chandaria, managing director and chief executive officer, Aegis Logistics, said, "We currently have one large warehouse of 20 acres in Mumbai, where all our products that arrive from the Middle-East are stored. From here, we transport fuel to the necessary states as per the demand." The company has operations in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu.
"We will be spending close to Rs 10-15 crore on the depots, which will be able to hold 500 tonnes of LPG. These depots will help us be more cost and time efficient; it generally takes two days to transport gas from Mumbai to the states where we retail the product," Chandaria said.
Aegis Logistics has also formed a strategic alliance with Essar Oil to sell each other's fuel. Aegis will set up auto liquefied petroleum gas dispensing stations at Essar's retail outlets, while Essar Oil will set up motor spirit and high-speed dispensing facilities at Aegis's auto gas stations.
Essar Oil has close to 1200 petrol and diesel retail outlets, and Aegis plans to have 300 autogas stations by 2011.
"Currently, we have 65 operating stations and another 20 are under construction. In Maharashtra we are operating close to 50 stations. We will spend close to Rs 25 lakh on each of the dispensers installed at Essar's retail outlets," Chandaria said.
Both companies refused to divulge details about the revenue expected from the alliance.



Tag: AEGIS, STATIONS, STATES, SET, ESSAR OIL, GAS, DEPOTS, CLOSE, RETAIL, ESSAR, OIL, FUEL, AEGIS LOGISTICS, PETROLEUM, CHANDARIA, LOGISTICS, MUMBAI, LIQUEFIED PETROLEUM GAS, PETROLEUM GAS, RETAIL OUTLETS,