Global energy major Shell is consolidating its presence in South and West India. According to Surinderdeep Singh, managing director and retail general manager, Shell India Marketing Pvt Ltd, the encouraging consumer response to its retail fuel outlets will see Shell set up a large number of outlets across India, but focusing on the South and West.

“We have a licence to open 2,000 outlets in India with no specific timeframe. We have opened 50 outlets in the past three years, mainly in the South (35) and West (15). Currently, we plan to open 100 more outlets. Fifty outlets in three years is quite aggressive for us in India and we believe the same will continue,” he said.

“Each outlet costs $1 million and we plan to open a few hundred more in the next two to three years. We want to consolidate our presence in the South and West first and will spread to Northern and Eastern regions. We will set up new outlets in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat,” he said.

Surinderdeep Singh, who was in Chennai recently to participate in the celebrations of Shell’s 60 years of association with Ferrari, said, “We are growing fast in India. We will be investing 20 percent more during this year than in 2007.”

Shell has invested over $1 billion in India over the last four years and will be investing more in the future. Part of the licence conditions was to ensure 11 percent of all retail outlets are in remote access areas. Shell has undertaken the technology transfer to build local capability to manufacture the components locally. These modern retail outlets are eco-friendly and equipped with the latest in tech and safety features. Shell’s retail fuel outlets in India use proprietary additives developed by its R&D team at Shell Global Solutions.