The Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) will open 22 fuel outlets in Bhutan over a period of two years.
As part of an agreement signed with the State Trading Corporation of Bhutan Limited (STCBL), the first outlet will be opened on the New Year’s Day at Thimphu, the capital of Bhutan.
Retail training
“To acquaint them with the nitty-gritty of retail outlet operations, we have trained the first batch of eight personnel from the STCBL at our Millennium Outlet and the Skill Development Institute run by the HPCL and other public sector oil companies at Arilova,” HPCL General Manager (International Operations) Srinivasa Kollati told The Hindu .
Overseas fuel banks
According to him, this will be the first series of overseas outlet of HPCL, which has 15,800 outlets across India at present. Mr. Srinivas said that the HPCL would be setting up fuel bunks in at least five other countries in the near future.
“The training on the retail outlet operations in the city was an exciting experience for us. Our persons will conduct more such programmes here,” STCBL General Manager Sugam Pradhan said.
He said that they were impressed by the quality of training provided on the SDI premises and practical knowledge imparted at the HPCL’s Millennium Outlet. He also enquired about the comfort in accommodation and food facilities being provided to the trainees during their fortnight-long stay.
The visiting team praised the services of staff of Millennium Outlet, where it got most of its practical training through interaction with the customers and understanding their requirements and expectations.
Initially, the HPCL explored various options for training and zeroed in on Skill
Development Institute in the city on the basis its infrastructure and the success stories in improving the skillsets of jobless youth.
“The institute has lived beyond the expectations as every trainee was benefited with product knowledge, digital literacy, customer care and grievance redressal and inventory management,” observed Pammi Ravi Sankar, Visakha Retail Regional Head, HPCL.
