Leading Indian lubricants production company opens first plant in Sharjah

With an investment of Dh50 million, one of India’s leading lubricants and grease production companies has formally opened its very first plant in the region in the inner port of Sharjah’s Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA).

Trinity Lubes and Grease FC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siddharth Grease and Lubes (SGL), India, was officially inaugurated by Indian Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday, November 17.

With a total area of the new investment is 12,500 square metres, the manufacturing unit has a production capacity of 50 million litres of grease and lubricants per year, company officials told Khaleej Times.

The plant is the very first fully automated lubricants and grease plant in the GCC and it stands on the inner harbour of the Hamriyah Free Zone, giving access for barges to load and offload products, adding value to the supply chain especially for marine oils. Products manufactured at the plant include automotive, industrial and construction lubricants and special greases for electric vehicles.

Location is key: Hardeep Singh Puri

Speaking after the official inauguration ceremony, Minister Puri, said, “This is a happy occasion. Normally, when you go to buy property you say location, location, location. I’ve discovered if you want to set up a plant to make lubricants, location is also important. Trinity Lubes and Grease is right next to a jetty. You can manufacture here and put it on a jetty straight away.”

He thanked the Indian business community gathered at the event for strengthening India-UAE relations through their economic contributions.

Puri was joined by Amar Nath, the additional secretary of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Subhash Kumar, the chairman and managing director of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Saud Salim Al Mazouel, the director HFZA, and other officials.

‘Hamriyah Free Zone is the petrochemical gateway to the world’

Siddharth Grease and Lubes have been operating in India for over 33 years, serving the top 20 global oil marketing and bearing companies, Indian defence sector and exporting to over 200 international customers in over 40 countries across continents, Siddharth Sachdeva, managing director of the executive board of Trinity Lubes and Grease told Khaleej Times.

Sachdeva said the company’s decision to move into the region via Sharjah is a strategic decision. “We have four manufacturing plants in India, exporting to over 40 countries. Looking at our export business, we always wanted to expand into a new manufacturing unit outside of India. UAE happened to be a preferred choice,” he said.

“Sharjah suits our needs the best. We are currently in Hamriyah Free Zone which is the petrochemical gateway to the world. If you see our facility here, a ship is docked at our factory. This kind of strategic location was very suitable to the kind of product offerings that we have as it helps not only from a supply chain perspective and also loading direct barges or ships from our factory is a key differentiator we have over the competition,” Sachdeva explained.

The company serves brands such as Castrol, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Valvoline among others. “We have already started serving the government of India from the new plant,” he added. The company has robust expansion plans and the plant is currently home to two research and development labs.

Trinity will also be producing its own brand Grenvo at its site. The brand is currently sold to at least 30 countries around the world. Mark Mathias, the company’s sales director told Khaleej Times, “It is wonderful to be working from this fantastic new facility in the UAE, one of the great petroleum gateways to the world.”

Sustainability goals set by SGL

Given the broad environmental issues faced by the oil and gas sector, Sachdeva and Mathias said the plant has been built keeping certain sustainable goals in mind. “Given the plant’s strategic location, all suppliers are right next door. Emissions from the transportation of raw materials is nullified thanks to the location we are in,” said Mathias.

Sachdeva explained, “Our Indian facilities are not using any diesel for our generators, we are completely operating on natural gas. There are no diesel emissions which is used for our boiler systems. We use an effluent treatment plant and all our facilities in India are solar-powered. We also harvest rainwater.” The company plans to bring all these initiatives into the plant in Sharjah once they figure out their energy requirements.

— dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com