IN 1999, when the concept of loyalty programmes was still in its nascent stage in India, the state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd (BPCL) launched the Petro Card. This revolutionary, loyalty-driven prepaid payment card served as a precursor to digital wallets. “We realised we weren’t connected with the end customer,” recalls G. Krishnakumar, who was then heading BPCL’s marketing vertical for the card and loyalty programmes. Within four months, 200,000 Petro Cards were issued. Soon, BPCL introduced the SmartFleet card to extend the loyalty programme to truck drivers and fleet owners.

Since then, Krishnakumar’s name has been synonymous with BPCL’s digital DNA. Long before “digital transformation” became a corporate buzzword, he was connecting the company directly with customers. “People identified petrol pumps with their owners, not with BPCL or an IOC or HP pump. We wanted a direct relationship through loyalty programmes.”

This is just an example of the long-term vision that Krishnakumar, or ‘K.K.’ as he is known among friends and colleagues, brings to the table. He rose through the ranks during his more than 38 years at BPCL to become the chairman and managing director in March 2023. When he superannuated in April this year, Sanjay Khanna, director (refineries), was handed over the additional charge. During his three-year tenure at the helm, Krishnakumar steered BPCL to new heights with strategic vision, quiet determination, and disciplined execution. Under his leadership, BPCL, India’s second-largest oil marketing company (OMC) and sixth-largest by turnover, saw net sales rise to ₹4,40,272 crore by FY25, hitting a 3-year CAGR of 8.3% in the past three financial years, according to database provider Capitaline.

At a 4.5% 3-year CAGR, net profit rose to ₹13,337 crore in FY25, while average shareholder returns during the period stood at 32.7%. The company delivered an average 17.7% in return on capital employed (RoCE) over the past three years. In FY25, BPCL achieved the highest gross refining margin among PSUs at $6.82 per barrel, distillate yield of 84.33%, and capacity utilisation of 115% — all industry bests. Domestic sales volumes increased from 42.51 million metric tonnes (MMT) in FY22 to 52.4 MMT in FY25, raising BPCL’s market share from 25% to 27.44%.

“This growth was driven by a clear strategic vision, disciplined execution, and a focus on both growth and operational excellence. More than that, people are BPCL’s biggest asset,” says Krishnakumar, who has also headed HR functions to find and groom the cream of next-level BPCL executives.

Notably, the impeccable performance comes at a time when the ground beneath their feet is shifting for energy companies worldwide. Giant corporations built on oil and gas are being forced to balance the energy trilemma — ensuring energy security, maintaining affordability, and accelerating sustainability — all at once. For India’s public sector OMCs like Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum, this challenge is sharper. That is because even as India’s economy continues to grow at more than 6% annually, its dependence on imported oil and gas remains high. Hence, for those at the helm of these companies, the balancing act requires vision, long-term and short-term growth plans, and investment strategies for the future.

Krishnakumar was thrown into this high-stakes landscape as he took charge as the BPCL chief in 2023. Nearly six months after his superannuation, the search for a suitable full-time successor continues — proof that K.K.’s imprint on the transformation of BPCL is indisputable.

Krishnakumar attributes BPCL’s impressive three-year track record to a sharp focus on crude diversification, operational reliability, and energy efficiency. “We diversified our crude basket by sourcing from Brazil, the U.S., and West Africa, optimising costs and processing heavier, cost-effective crudes,” he explains. AI- and machine learning-driven tools helped it optimise operations — from crude selection to yield improvement — in real time, while predictive systems ensured uninterrupted refinery uptime.

For Krishnakumar, steering BPCL wasn’t just about current performance; it was about building the future. “By 2047, India will be a $30-trillion economy, and our energy demand will rise from 610 to around 2,200 million tonnes of oil equivalent (Mtoe). We need to be prepared to meet that,” he says.

Under his leadership, BPCL strengthened its core business while laying a robust foundation for transition under ‘Project Aspire’, the company’s strategic blueprint for 2024–2029. The plan, backed by investments worth ₹2.7 lakh crore, balances ‘Nurturing the Core’ with ‘Future Big Bets’, focussing on four key areas: diversifying the energy basket, investing in future fuels, expanding infrastructure, net-zero initiatives, and embedding digital transformation.

Currently, BPCL operates 35.3 MMTPA of refining capacity across Mumbai, Kochi, and Bina refineries. The Bina expansion project is underway, increasing capacity from 7.8 to 11 MMTPA. BPCL estimates that the Mumbai and Kochi refineries have a long-term potential to help it reach 45-MMTPA capacity. The OMC’s most ambitious move yet is a 9-MMTPA greenfield refinery worth ₹95,000 crore near Ramayapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The board has cleared pre-project activities, and land — nearly 6,000 acres — has been allocated.

Amid plateauing global oil demand, BPCL’s next growth engine is petrochemicals. The company now has a 0.84-MMTPA capacity, with key projects such as the Propylene Derivative Petrochemical Project (PDPP) at Kochi started in 2021 — India’s first facility to produce acrylic acid and oxo alcohols, earlier fully imported. A new upcoming 400-KTPA polypropylene plant worth ₹5,000 crore in Kochi will serve the packaging and automotive sectors. The flagship project in petrochemicals, however, is at Bina — a ₹49,000-crore integrated ethylene cracker and petrochemical complex, which will take BPCL’s total petrochemical capacity to 3.2 MMT and contribute 8% to its overall production by FY29, says Krishnakumar.

In upstream, BPCL has investments across six countries — Russia, Brazil, Mozambique, the U.A.E., Indonesia, and India — serving as both a growth engine and a strategic hedge. As projects in Mozambique and Brazil turn onstream, they will bolster BPCL’s crude supplies and reinforce India’s energy security. The company is also transforming its retail identity. “OMCs are no longer just fuel suppliers,” says Krishnakumar. BPCL is rolling out multi-energy stations offering CNG, LNG, EV charging, and battery swapping. More than 6,500 outlets are already EV-ready. The branded ‘BeCafe’ coffee shops at 110-plus outlets are redefining the forecourt experience. Large wayside amenities along the highways with various facilities, dining, retail, and shopping options are also coming up.

BPCL is also expanding its footprint in city gas distribution (CGD) with 52 geographical areas (26 directly, 26 via JVs). “As India targets to raise gas’s share in its energy mix from 6% to 15% by 2030, this business will be a significant value driver for BPCL,” says Krishnakumar. In the biofuels and green energy space, BPCL has commissioned a 5-MW green hydrogen plant at Bina, with another green hydrogen refuelling station near Kochi airport underway. The long-term target in renewable energy creation is to reach 10 GW of green energy capacity by 2035, from wind and solar projects.

Krishnakumar may have come a long way from the marketing head that he was in 1987, but that same spirit continues to fuel BPCL’s digital initiatives such as the HelloBPCL super app, AI-powered fuelling through UFill, the Urja chatbot, and IRIS, a real-time logistics and asset-monitoring platform. Project Utkarsh, an AI-powered video analytics system, enhances safety and performance across sites. Krishnakumar even set up a dedicated digital transformation vertical, institutionalising digital interface in operations, training, supply chain, and getting employees ready for the digital future across the organisation. “Digitisation is now a core strategic lever—driving operational efficiency, enhancing customer engagement, and preparing BPCL for a complex, multi-energy future,” he says with conviction.

If BPCL’s digital leap is one part of Krishnakumar’s legacy, the transformation of MAK Lubricants is another. Krishnakumar led the business in two stints — during 2014-2018 as marketing manager before being elevated as its head during 2020-2023, turning it into a powerful home-grown brand. “We realised mechanics are for vehicles what doctors are for pharmaceuticals when it comes to marketing. We built loyalty among them,” he says with a smile. Rejecting discount-led pricing, he focussed instead on quality, brand equity, and mechanic engagement to bring uniform prices across India and thus, making the business more profitable.

Today, MAK offers over 400 grades, supported by four blending plants and five lube facilities, with selective overseas expansion underway. MAK Quick Oil Change (QOC) centres at 8,000-plus BPCL fuel stations redefine customer convenience.

Krishnakumar, who has roots in Kerala, spent his early years across various cities, following his father’s postings at the public sector trading firm, MMTC. An electrical and electronics engineering graduate from NIT Tiruchirappalli, he later earned a master’s in financial management from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies. His wife, Parvathy, is an education professional. Daughter Sharanya is an IIT Madras graduate, while his son Aaditya works with a law firm. A keen quizzer and an avid golfer, the softspoken K.K. is also a voracious reader of fiction and philosophy.

These days, he jokes, his biggest hobby is catching up on sleep. “I’m just making up for all the sleep I lost in the past five years,” he says with a broad smile. Though those close to him say he’s likely to return to professional life if the right opportunity comes along.