“We are proud to deepen our longstanding commitment to India with our first greenfield investment. Maharashtra is amongst India’s largest manufacturing hubs and a natural choice for our lubricant plant thanks to its attractive investment environment,” said Monte Dobson, lead country manager for ExxonMobil affiliates in India.

Located in the Isambe industrial area in Raigad, the plant will potentially be able to manufacture 159 million liters of finished lubricants annually to meet growing domestic demand from sectors such as manufacturing, steel, power, mining and construction, as well as from the passenger and commercial vehicle industries. It will also support local industry, sourcing a larger part of the base stocks and additives, as well as all packaging, from Indian businesses.

Vipin Rana, CEO of ExxonMobil Lubricants Private, added: “This is a step change towards bolstering our position as one of India’s leading providers of high-performance lubricants. Manufacturing locally will simplify our supply chain, enabling us to serve the needs of our Indian customers and consumers more readily.”

According to ExxonMobil, demand for lubricants is accelerating in India, which is the third largest lubricants market in the world and growing at a compound annual growth rate of 2% thanks to its expanding industrial demand and more vehicles on the road.

Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist