Reliance BP Mobility Limited (RBML), a joint venture between Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), and British energy major BP, has appointed Kedar Apte as chief marketing officer (CMO). His key roles will include fuel, convenience retail, electric vehicles charging, etc.

Operating under the “Jio-bp” brand, the Reliance Industries and BP pan-India fuels and mobility joint venture aims to become a leading player in India’s fuels and mobility markets. Building from Reliance Industries’ existing businesses, Reliance and BP expect the joint venture to co-create a world class fuels partnership to grow rapidly and help meet India’s fast-growing demands for energy and mobility. The joint venture expects to expand from Reliance Industries’ current fuel retailing network of more than 1,400 retail sites and 30 aviation fuel stations to 5,500 sites within five years. The Castrol lubricants’ brand, which is owned by BP, will be supplied to the joint venture’s fuel retailing network. RIL’s existing sites will be rebranded to Jio-bp in due course.

Prior to this appointment, Apte was vice president of marketing of Castrol India Limited, a leading player in India’s lubricants industry. He joined Castrol India in Mumbai, India, in October 2011, as general manager – Motorcycle Oils Category. He became deputy marketing head in December 2013 and was appointed vice president of marketing at Castrol India in September 2016. Concurrently, he briefly assumed the role of sales director – Middle East, Egypt and Pakistan in 2020.

On his LinkedIn page, Apte posted: “In my last nine years at bp, I have taken great pride in marketing brand ‘Castrol’ in India: running several innovative campaigns that have captured the hearts and minds of our consumers and influencers and now I feel privileged to be given an opportunity to lead the marketing function at RBML (brand – Jio bp).”

Before joining Castrol India, Apte spent almost a decade with Hindustan Unilever in sales and marketing roles. He is a mechanical engineer with a management degree in marketing from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies at the University of Mumbai.