Entity

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian state-owned integrated oil and gas company headquartered in Mumbai, operating under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Established on 24 January 1976 following the Government of India's nationalisation of Burmah Shell — itself rooted in the Burmah Oil Company founded in 1889 — BPCL was renamed to its current identity on 1 August 1977. It holds Maharatna status, the highest category awarded to India's largest and most profitable public sector undertakings, a designation received in 2017.

Refining Operations

BPCL operates three refineries with a combined nameplate capacity of 35.3 MMTPA, accounting for approximately 14-15% of India's total refining capacity:​

• Mumbai Refinery (Mahul, Maharashtra) — 12.0 MMTPA
• Kochi Refinery (Kerala) — 15.5 MMTPA
• Bina Refinery (Madhya Pradesh, via BORL, fully absorbed in 2022) — 7.8 MMTPA

Downstream Marketing & Distribution

BPCL maintains one of India's most extensive petroleum product distribution networks, comprising over 24,000 retail fuel stations, more than 5,900 LPG distributorships, 52 LPG bottling plants, 56 aviation service stations, and 4 cross-country pipelines. Its branded product portfolio covers transport fuels, LPG (marketed as Bharat Gas), lubricants, aviation turbine fuel and EV charging infrastructure.​

Upstream and Gas

Through its subsidiary Bharat PetroResources Limited (BPRL), BPCL holds participating interests in multiple exploration blocks in India and abroad. Its gas subsidiary, Bharat Gas Resources Limited (BGRL) — merged into BPCL in 2022 — expanded city gas distribution (CGD) authorization across multiple geographical areas.​​

Financial Scale

For the FY 2022-23 (April 2022 – March 2023), BPCL reported annual revenues of approximately ₹5,33,468 crore (c. $64 billion), processing 38.53 MMT of crude oil, with a domestic market share of approximately 25% among public sector oil companies. It is ranked on the Fortune Global 500 (309^th in 2020) and Forbes Global 2000 (1,052^nd in 2023).

Strategic Development

BPCL announced a $4.05 billion investment plan in 2021 to expand petrochemical capacity and refining efficiency over five years. Its most significant current growth initiative is the proposed Ramayapatnam Greenfield Refinery-Petrochemical Complex in Andhra Pradesh — an $11 billion integrated project targeting approximately 9 MMTPA capacity with Saudi Aramco and Oil India Limited as prospective equity partners.