“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters”- Ms Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson- CEO Hemas Holdings

“It’s tough to stay inspired always; whenever I have been at crossroads I stop and contemplate on what makes me the happiest” the Chief Guest Ms. Kasturi Chellaraja Wilson , the CEO- Hemas Holdings said while addressing female employees of Lanka IOC on the occasion of International Women’s Day celebration (IWD) at LIOC Head Office.

She admired that the women leadership is essential towards corporate success and further she elaborated that “Wherever women are, whatever they do, they can make success. but woman must understand the strength hidden inside them and workout for it. “Women are radically impatient for change. It’s an impatience that runs deep, and it has been brewing for years” she further added.

Ms. Katuri underscored that it is not enough at all to allocate one day per year for women’s equality, rather it is a day to spread awareness among the people regarding women’s rights and equalization. Throughout the year the actions/ decisions has to be taken and implemented to enhance gender equality. She cited as cause for hope, growing support in tackling gender-bias barriers; a “driving will” for change across generations and countries.

Ms. Kasturi further elaborated that as a Group we are committed in recruiting and promoting employees, who meet the best requirements of vacant positions and possess the required competencies, experience and qualifications, irrespective of gender.  She has always been a role model not only for female employees in her organization but also across the globe. “We believe that women in senior leadership roles translate operational results in the quality of discussion and the decision making process gets better with different perspectives being brought to the table and we always facilitate our employees with flexible working hours, child care facilities which will help to find a better work-life balance.”

The session of Ms. Kasturi was very motivational and interactive. She admired that the women leadership is essential and crucial towards Corporate success and further she elaborated that “Wherever women are, whatever they do, they can make success and best in that scenario, but at the same time woman must understand the strength hidden inside them and they should work on the same.

She appreciated Managing Director of Lanka IOC, Manoj Gupta for creating a better work place for women employees and congratulated him for organizing such inspiring function.  The employees were completely engaged during the interaction with Ms. Kasturi and it was a proud moment for all the employees in LIOC.

LIOC provides excellent platforms in generating equal opportunities, behaviours, aspirations and needs of all employees. Gender plays no role inside LIOC but what matters is the attitude, performance, talent, learning and the professional upgradation.

The annual Women’s Day celebrations was held for the year 2020 at Lanka IOC Head Office on the 11th of March in order to recognize and appreciate the hard work of the female staff members within the company.The management of Lanka IOC appreciates the valuable contributions made by its female staff towards the success of the company’s vision and mission, thus consider it an honor to obtain the services of them in their journey of achieving the strategic objectives. Due to this very reason Lanka IOC has given this day considerable recognition in order to add value to the lives of the female strength within the company.

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Mr Manoj Gupta, MD Lanka IOC inaugurating the EV Charging Station

Mr. Manoj Gupta, MD, Lanka IOC, inaugurated the 4th EV charging station at M/s Felix Pereira & Sons retail outlet in Colombo in the presence of a distinguished gathering including esteemed customers, dealers of Lanka IOC, key personalities from the area and officials of Lanka IOC.

Speaking on the occasion MD, Lanka IOC stated that apart from regular facilities provided at all their retail outlets, Lanka IOC has gone a step ahead in fulfilling its commitment to a greener tomorrow by providing an ‘Electrical vehicle Charging Facility’ at this Retail Outlet for the use by all types of Electric vehicles and Plug-in Hybrid (PHEV) vehicles. He emphasised the need to reduce fossil fuel consumption in the transportation and energy sector by switching to Electric Vehicles as it will go a long way in controlling air pollution and creating a green environment.

This is the most modern EV facility in Sri Lanka, which is a self-operational unit provided by M/s ChargeNET having its own usage mobile App. This Electric Vehicle (EV) charging facility is powered by ChargeNET smart mobile application, fully automated unmanned operation & cloud based back end system, which enables smart monitoring, smart payments, and station management for ultimate user experience.

Felix Pereira & Sons, Colombo is one of the flagship retail outlet of Lanka IOC, which is fully automated and having all modern facilities.

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The first fortnightly draw of ‘Abans – Lanka IOC Seasonal Bonanza – Tank up & Win’ was held on 20^thNovember 2019 at Lanka IOC Head office, in presence of representative from the Department of Revenue, Western Province and senior management from both Lanka IOC and Abans.

The promotion will be valid till 31^stDecember 2019 at 68 Petrol Shed  of Lanka IOC in the districts of Colombo and Gampaha. The Grand Draw will be held in January 2020.

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Lanka IOC in association with the Abans Group kickstarted a mega sales promotion campaign throughout Colombo and Gampaha in the Island Nation. It is always a great time for Lanka IOC to wish our valuable customer on this occasion of Christmas and New Year.

While interacting with august presence of media Mr Manoj Gupta, MD, Lanka IOC conveyed that parallel to the campaign, yet integral to it, is Lanka IOC’s commitment to citizen safety and driving/fueling ecosystems. Lanka IOC believes that responsibility also begins with the Corporate sector and is consequentially underscoring the need to evolve fueling, marketing and social behavior into an integrated “marketplace.” Safety, duties and responsibilities have to be factored into every aspect of this ecosystem.” He also added, ” we are heavily invested in Citizen and Driver safety and their well being is our reward.”

On the side-lines of the event, Lanka IOC and Abans Group CEO emphasized the importance of the tie-up and the takeaways of the offer which will last through December 31st. Abans is the exclusive distributors of Apple, Hyundai, LG, Oppo, Hero, Suzuki, Vespa in the islands.

Highlighting the key benefits and with this exclusive tie up with Lanka IOC Mr Darshana Munasinge CEO of the Abans Group stated, “Abans is happy to be partnered with Lanka IOC PLC for this unique Joint promotion that is carried out at 68 petrol sheds in Colombo and Gampaha areas.

Following are the some important feature of this campaign:

Prizes
· 02 Bikes worth LKR 3,88,000 upwards.
· 12 LED TVs
· Total gifts worth 1 Million worth is being sponsored by Abans group

Minimum Purchase Value of Petrol/ XtraPremium by customer :

· For 2 Wheeler : LKR 200
· For 4 Wheeler : LKR 500

Following are the key features of the campaign :

Customers need to send a SMS as follows :

ABANS<space>Pump Unique ID<space>Cash Memo No to : 712338888

Customer are getting a reply SMS “Thank you for participating in Lanka IOC Aban campaign”. Your transaction id is xxx123. Please save this for future reference for draw.

Visit : liocabans.blogspot.com/ for details

· The scheme is being communicated to the customers through Hoardings, banners, standees, social media and leaflet distribution being done by Aban group. Such publicity costs are being undertaken by Aban Group only.

Role of dealers of Lanka IOC

· The dealers is participating by creating awareness of the scheme through the pump attendants and communicating the details to the customers visiting the outlets. No participation charges is taken from Dealers.

Team Lanka IOC is very much enthusiastic in conducting this campaign, which is certainly going to enhance our engagement with different stake holders.

Lanka IOC Plc Trincomalee Oil Terminal handed over 100 nos School Bags to children of families below the poverty line under the Trincomalee District Samurdhi Programme. This event was organized by the District Secretariat, Trincomalee and was done in the presence of Mr N A A Pushpakumara, Government Agent and District Secretary, Trincomalee. 300 nos of participants attended the programme.

Trincomalee District Samurdhi Children programme conducts various competitions annually for children in Essay Writing, Drawings, Debates, Poem writing and other cultural events in Sinhala and Tamil.

Mr Benoj Paul, VP (Ops & LBP) and Mr T Chiranjeevi, VP (Ops) handed over bags to the winners of the cultural events in the presence of Mr N A A Pushpakumara, Government Agent (GA). The GA and his team appreciated LIOC for extending the support for various welfare events.

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Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Director (Human Resources), Indian Oil Corporation & Chairman, Lanka IOC and Mr. Shyam Bohra, Managing Director of LIOC recently inaugurated the new Lanka IOC Retail Outlet in Pepiliyana, Colombo. This is part of a corporate dealership with M/s Southern Petroleum. M/s Southern Petroleum is part of a highly diversified business group of Sri Lanka  M/s Laugfs Holdings Ltd.

This RO at Pepiliyana is special in many senses. It further strengthens our presence in Colombo which is the most important market in Sri Lanka. For the first time such a Solar Canopy has been designed & installed at any RO. Furthermore, this RO is being certified as Green RO by Green Building Council of Sri Lanka. Once certified, as per GreenSL this is going to be first such RO in Sri Lanka & most probably first such certified RO in Asia. Aim for such certification is to bring focus on importance of environment sustainability & reduce Carbon footprint. This becomes more important for us as we are operating in Petroleum industry, our products being responsible for lot of carbon emissions. For GreenSL certification, following activities are being done besides other compliances:

1. Harvesting of rain water
2. Disposal of waste water/garbage
3. Planting of green plants like bamboo trees etc
4. Interlock grass paving/creation of vertical gardens, etc
5. LED lighting at the Canopy , Sales building and street lights
6. Fixing of Vapor recovery at the vent lines and fuel dispensing nozzles.
7. Updated maintenance and fire protection system, etc.

Mr. Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Chairman LIOC also inaugurated the linking of the Solar Power System to the National Grid. This momentous event, marking the first green petrol station in Sri Lanka, was concluded with the planting of saplings & mementos to all the staff of the Retail Outlet.

Contributing to public welfare and community growth through a series of CSR projects under the theme “WE CARE”, Lanka IOC recently launched another free health screening camp at its retail outlet (Havelock Road, Colombo 06). This project was organized by Lanka IOC in close coordination with Indian CEO Forum (ICF). A religious ceremony marked the inauguration of the program, following the undertaking of a vow to ensure health screening and treatment for a maximum of people in the country to provide significant impact.

The program amassed an impressive level of response and appreciation, having accomplished a reach of over 200 people. The camp administered free medical checkups, including diagnoses of medical deficiencies and complications as well as respective treatments. Helpage Sri Lanka offered 10 officials to this cause (comprising of a doctor and other medical staff) to attend to the patients. Lanka IOC and ICF ensured the use of sophisticated medical equipment for the purpose of accurate diagnoses and quality health care in screening patients for various diseases including diabetes, blood pressure and vision difficulties. Additionally, medicine and spectacles were provided free of charge to the underprivileged and patients in need.

Upon diagnosis of a critical illness, patients were then referred to hospitals for further testing and treatment.

Speaking on Lanka IOC’s commitment to community welfare, Mr. Shyam Bohra, Managing Director of Lanka IOC PLC and President, Indian CEO Forum states: “We use our energy and resources to benefit the community at large. We are proud to be a socially responsible corporate entity, having organized a series of social service projects under the theme, “WE CARE”. We have helped support flood affected areas such as Rathnapura, Matara and Akuressa with our free medical service camps so that the benefit is shared with a maximum number of people.”

In addition to the health camps launched at Weligama, Matara, Rathnapura and Akuressa during the course of the year, Lanka IOC PLC has also been actively engaged in supporting communities across the country through various other welfare programs, including ambulance donation, blood donation, providing availability of English Language education to under privileged children, library donations to rural communities, wheel chair contributions and tree planting campaigns. As a socially conscious and responsible organization, Lanka IOC PLC will continue to organize such CSR activities to ensure and uplift the social wellbeing of Sri Lanka’s citizens.

This event was supported by active participation of Mr. Kishore Reddy, Mr. Prakash, Mr. J. Sen etc. from Indian CEO Forum.

Lanka IOC PLC transformed the petroleum landscape in Sri Lanka by providing a new experience to customers through value added services at the LIOC retail outlets, and is committed for continuous improvement in petroleum retailing in the country & ensure regular up gradation in customer services to match best international standards. However branding is incomplete unless customer experience is same across the network. Realizing this Lanka IOC has been continuously working on standardization of customer service experience across its network. Thus apart from regularly improving look of the petrol pumps, Lanka IOC has been regularly working on the improvement in the soft skills of its manpower. Both dealers & staff at a Petrol Station are critical in providing good customer experience. Lanka IOC conducts regular training programs for dealers as well as for pump attendants with the help of the best universities in the country. Experts in the field of sales & marketing imparts trainings to dealers & their staff on regular basis. Considering the nature of business & flammable products being handled at the petrol stations, Safety is of paramount importance at a petrol station. Considering this dealers & pump attendants are also being trained for “Fire & Safety Precautions” through “Fire & Rescue Training Academy, Colombo”. We have identified ‘Pump Attendants’ working at our Petrol Stations as our most important link in our customer services as they being the first touch point for our customers. Focus is on bringing improvement in their life. To help them upgrade their education levels, Lanka IOC has registered select few with NAITA to help them acquire higher education. Slowly this benefit will extend to all pump attendants working with Lanka IOC petrol stations.

In line with our agenda of regular & continuous improvement towards further enhancing the customer service experience in the forecourt, Lanka IOC PLC organized a mega workshop on ”CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING” for Pump Attendants at BMICH.

Mr. Shyam Bohra, Managing Director of Lanka IOC PLC, commenting on this event stated ‘Recognizing the importance of our Customer Attendants to our business, we foresee a timely need for a clinical session to increase customer services, adopting best practices, improvements on service quality, Cleanliness, Safety and Health Precautions of both the Customer Attendant and the Retail Outlet, and to adequately empower them to handle difficult situations and strengthening team work.’ Further he stressed on the following core areas on which Lanka IOC will be focusing for the benefits of the Pump Attendants and for the customers; Mobile application for the Pump Attendants as a learning tool for the improvement of the customer service quality of pump attendants; Developing soft skills of the pump attendants to enhance customer service; regular training for improving the awareness of the fire and safety precautions at the ROs, etc.

Approximately 450 Pump Attendants attended the ‘Training Program’, representing the entire retail network of Lanka IOC across the island. Seeing a disciplined work force all well groomed & flashing dark blue Lanka IOC uniform was a visual delight. This initiative was to generate a positive impact and a close relationship with Pump Attendants motivating them to deliver a service par excellence.

Despite suffering huge losses in Auto Fuel sales due to absence of any Pricing Formula in the country, Lanka IOC is not stopping on its agenda of modernizing its retail network & enhancing customer experience. Once again, In a first of its kind of initiative in the petroleum industry in the country, Lanka IOC launched the scheme of Life Insurance Cover for the pump attendants working at LIOC retail outlets across island in association with Allianz Lanka, a global leader in insurance. LIOC offered a Life Insurance Cover of LKR. 500,000 which goes upto LKR One Million in case of Accidental Death Benefit Cover. It also includes Permanent Disability Cover and Partial Disability Cover. This will certainly create the peace of mind and improve the quality of life of the pump attendants.

Lanka IOC PLC, the overseas venture of Indian Oil Corporation is a Fortune 500 company, with the vision of becoming a transnational energy major, set foot into Sri Lanka in June 2002 revolutionizing the petroleum landscape in the island by providing Sri Lankan motorists a new refueling experience offering a range of world class lubricants and branded fuels that include Servo, Xtra Premium Petrol and Xtra Mile Diesel and providing high quality Marine Fuels catering to bunker fuel requirements in ports across Sri Lanka.

The Women’s Day 2018 celebrations was held at Lanka IOC Head Office on the 08th of March in order to recognize and appreciate the contribution of female staff members in the company.

The management of Lanka IOC appreciated the valuable contributions made by its female staff towards the success of the company’s vision and mission, thus consider it an honor to obtain the services of them in their journey of achieving the strategic objectives.

Lanka IOC invited Dr. Anoma Gamage, Deputy Minister of Petroleum Resources Development as the chief guest of the event. She shared her experience and expertise on the following areas.

1. Versatile working environment
2. Women empowerment
3. Adaptability

At the end of the event to appreciate the contribution of the LIOC ladies, token of appreciation was given by Dr. Anoma Gamage and Mr. Shyam Bohra MD-LIOC.