Jio-BP to add 250 fuel retail outlets this year, double EV charging points

A year after Reliance Industries and British oil major BP's fuel retail joint venture Jio-bp, began a pilot of retailing compressed bio-gas (CBG) and Bio-CNG (B-CNG) at their retail outlets, the company is planning to expand it to 200 retail outlets, said a senior company official.

The company is already retailing CBG and B-CNG at its outlets in western India.

Jio-BP which has 1700 fuel retail outlets currently, will expand it by another 250, by the end of 2024, taking it to a total of 1950. Jio-BP outlets are set up by Reliance BP Mobility Limited (RBML), a joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and BP.


"We are adding a lot of (fuel) stations. CBG alone will see 200 (station) additions," said Harish Mehta, CEO
Reliance BP Mobility Limited, on the sidelines of Indian Energy Week in Goa. Mehta added that the CBG retailed will be 95% pure.

Compressed Biogas or CBG is a green fuel produced from waste/ biomass sources. It has properties similar to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and can be used for automotive, industrial, and commercial uses.

RIL is setting up biogas facilities at multiple locations in Uttar Pradesh by using surplus agricultural residue and organic waste. These facilities will be linked to a network of biogas dispensing stations operated by Reliance Jio BP.

However, at RIL's annual general meeting last September, company chairman Mukesh Ambani announced plans to set up 25 CBG plants across India with a target to establish 100 CBG plants in the next five years. These plants would consume 5.5 million tonnes of agri-residue and organic waste.

Last December, RIL joined hands with DBS Bank India to launch a financing program for vendor partners to aggregate agricultural residue as inputs for CBG plants, a move that will help check the menace of stubble burning. Securing finance has been a pain point for many entrepreneurs in the CBG segment. RIL's move will enable ecosystem development for Reliance CBG production plants across the country.

Jio-BP will also double its EV charging points.

"We are rapidly expanding. We have 4200 charging points and we will take it to over 7500 to 8000 charging points by this year end," said Mehta adding that the company plans to use 70% of the EV charging through green power, going forward.