East India Petroleum

Who owns East India Petroleum?

East India Petroleum is currently owned by Global Infrastructure Partners through GIP I (2008 vintage).

Hand-verified · updated 2026-04-21

About East India Petroleum

East India Petroleum, which trades as EIPL Energy, operates a port-based liquid storage and handling terminal at Visakhapatnam on India's east coast, receiving, storing and distributing petroleum, oil and lubricant products, liquid chemicals, liquefied petroleum gas and biodiesel. Incorporated in 1994 and operational from 1997, it was positioned as India's first private-sector bonded storage venture of its kind, occupying roughly 50 acres inside the port with connectivity by pipeline, rail, road and sea. The facility comprises multiple product tanks for POL and liquid chemicals alongside dedicated LPG storage in spheres and earth-mounded bullets, served by an exclusive 14-inch, 8.34 km jetty pipeline. Its customers include Indian energy majors such as Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum and Reliance, plus chemical off-takers, and it sits among the larger independent tank-storage operators in India. Company filings indicate annual revenue in the range of INR 100 to 500 crore and a small direct workforce, consistent with an asset-intensive infrastructure operation.

Ownership journey

East India Petroleum was incorporated in 1994 in Visakhapatnam and brought its port-based bonded terminal into operation in 1997 as an early private-sector entrant in Indian liquid-storage infrastructure. In October 2007 Global Infrastructure Partners, investing through its first infrastructure fund, acquired a controlling 74 percent stake in the company, with the balance held by a local co-investor. GIP backed the business as an operating platform in Indian port logistics and liquid-storage infrastructure. In 2011 GIP initiated a sale process, appointing an investment bank to run an auction that reportedly drew interest from domestic and international tank-storage operators. GIP's own portfolio now lists East India Petroleum as a realized investment, indicating it exited via a trade sale or secondary transaction; the acquiring party is not disclosed here.

Under PE ownership

Under Global Infrastructure Partners' ownership from 2007, East India Petroleum was held as a standalone infrastructure asset within its Visakhapatnam port footprint rather than as a growth roll-up. Over the period the terminal deepened its multi-product profile, combining POL and liquid-chemical tankage with LPG storage in both pressurized spheres and safer earth-mounded bullets, backed by SCADA-monitored control and high-throughput evacuation by pipeline and road. The platform has continued to pursue capacity additions, including an expansion of LPG storage toward roughly 24,750 metric tons through further earth-encased bullets within the existing site. The terminal remains an operating storage and handling hub serving India's leading oil marketing companies and petrochemical customers. Detailed operating metrics tied specifically to the GIP holding period are not publicly disclosed, so the durable change is best read as the build-out and diversification of the terminal's storage base.