Indian Oil to tap into mall traffic

Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) has hit on a new retail model of providing auto services in malls so that cars and two-wheelers can get serviced while families shop. Christened Servoxpress, the first of which was opened in Mumbai in April, the company targets to open 250 such centers across the country by March 2008, at an investment of Rs30 crores (US$7.02 million). Initially, the centers will be built in Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. IOC, which has about 16,500 petrol stations in the country, opened the first Xpress center under an agreement with the Kishore Biyani-promoted Future Group. (April 14, 2007)