Confidence Petroleum India Limited (CPIL) and Norway's BW LPG have established a 50:50 joint venture to develop LPG storage facilities, import terminals, bottling plants, and distribution infrastructure across India.
Last year, BW LPG had invested USD 30 million in Confidence, taking a 8.50% stake in the . Part of the money was used by Confidence to expand its LPG infrastructure in India. Confidence wants to add 32 bottling plants and 500 auto LPG stations over 3 years.
The newly formed JV is called BW Confidence Enterprise Private Ltd. The JV's first project is setting up a mega LPG storage terminal at JNPT, Mumbai along with Ganesh Benzoplast Limited (GBL).
The terminal will be one of India's largest LPG storage units catering to the rising imports.
The JV will collaborate closely with BW LPG's global trading desk and India shipping subsidiary to procure competitive priced LPG from international markets. The sourced LPG will then be supplied to meet the needs of CPIL and other players in India's rapidly growing LPG market.
Speaking about the joint venture, CPIL Chairman Nitin Khara said, "By harnessing BW LPG's global expertise and CPIL's local knowledge, BW Confidence Enterprise is strongly positioned to accelerate development of India's LPG infrastructure." The projects are estimated to create 50,000+ direct and indirect jobs.
Confidence is an integrated LPG and CNG company established in 1993. Over the years, it has emerged as one of India's top private LPG companies with a strong presence in industrial, auto, and domestic retail segments. CPIL is India's biggest private sector LPG bottling entity running over 68 plants and a network of over 250 auto LPG stations pan-India.
The Norway-based BW LPG owns and operates the world's largest fleet of 46 very large gas carriers (VLGCs) and 2 medium gas carriers, with a total capacity of over 3 million cubic meters. BW LPG India, a fully-owned subsidiary established in 2017, is the largest India-flagged VLGC operator handling nearly 20% of the country's LPG imports.