HPCL is the subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), which is primarily involved in the refining of crude oil and marketing of petroleum products. The company is also engaged in the production of hydrocarbons and providing services for the management of E&P Blocks. The company was formed after the amalgamation of erstwhile foreign oil companies ESSO and Caltex in 1974. ESSO was formerly commonly referred to as Standard Vacuum Refining Company of India Limited (Stanvac), which came into existence as in 1952, and Caltex came into existence as in 1955. The company pushed the growth accelerator and strengthened the capacity of the Mumbai refinery to 5.5 MMTPA in 1985. In 1992, the company went public and was listed on BSE. As a result, it became the first PSE listed on the stock exchange. HPCL commissioned the Visakh Vijayawada pipeline, and the company was listed on NSE in 1998. In 2007, it commissioned 60 TMT LPG Cavern at Visakhapatnam by SALPG (JV). The company continued business growth through the commissioning of 9 MMTPA HMEL refinery at Bhatinda in 2012. In 2018, ONGC gained complete control of a stake of 51.11% in HPCL and became a holding company. In 2019, the company earned Maharatna status by the Government of India.

Business Segments

• Refinery:The company administers two refineries in Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. The Visakhapatnam refinery has a capacity of 8.3 Million Metric Tonnes Per Annum (MMTPA), while the Mumbai refinery’s capacity is 9.5 MMTPA. HPCL also administers the largest Lube Refinery in India in Mumbai, which produces lube oil base stocks.
• Retail:Under this segment, the company owns and administers pumps, whereby it sells petrol, diesel, CNG, lubes, etc.
• LPG:The organization is engaged in the sale of LPG through ‘HP Gas’, the LPG brand of HPCL. This brand serves over 9.3 crore consumers as of March 2023.
• Lubricants:Under this, it sells lubricants to its customers. The organization believes that the Indian lubricant market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world and the third largest in terms of
• Consumption.
• Direct Sales (Industrial & Consumer sales):The organization’s Industrial and Consumer (I&C) enterprise line handles the institutional sales of fuels, bitumen, naphtha, solvents, petrochemicals and other bulk products.
• Aviation:Under this segment, the organization supplies Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) to airline customers through its wider network of Aviation Service Facilities (ASFs) covering all the major airports in India.
• Natural Gas:The organization is involved in the sale of natural gas enterprise. It is engaged in the import, regasification, transportation, City Gas Distribution (CGD) networks and marketing value chains.

Subsidiaries As of March 31, 2023, the company had 4 subscribers, and a few of them are listed below:

• Prize Petroleum Company Limited:It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of HPCL, which is engaged in the exploration and production of hydrocarbons and providing services for the management of E&P Blocks.
• HPCL Biofuels Ltd. (HBL):This is a wholly owned subsidiary involved in manufacturing ethanol for blending in Petrol.

Corporate Actions

In 2016 and 2017, the company announced bonus issue of shares in the ratio of 2:1 and 1:2, respectively. The record date for the bonus issues were September 14, 2016, and July 11, 2017, respectively.