Castrol was founded by Charles “Cheers” Wakefield under the name of ‘CC Wakefield & Company’. In 1899 Charles left a job at Vacuum Oil to start a new business selling lubricants for trains and heavy machinery.

Early in the new century, Wakefield took a personal interest in two sporty new motorised contraptions - the automobile and the aeroplane. The company started developing lubricants for these new engines, which needed oils that were runny enough to work from cold at start-up and thick enough to keep working at very high temperatures. Wakefield researchers found that adding a measure of castor oil, a vegetable oil made from castor beans, did the trick nicely. They called the new product “Castrol.” In 1919 John Alcock and Arthur Brown choose Castrol to lubricate their engine on the first trans-Atlantic flight.

Having helped pioneer a new kind of motor oil, CC Wakefield pioneered a new method of getting customers to notice the product: sponsorship. The Castrol name appeared on banners and flags at competitive aviation events, auto races and at attempts to break the land speed record.

By 1960, the name of the motor oil had all but eclipsed that of the company’s larger-than-life founder, and so ‘CC Wakefield& Company’ became, simply, Castrol Ltd. In 1966 The Burmah Oil Company bought Castrol and in 2000 Burmah-Castrol was purchased by BP.

Business area of the company

Castrol India is an India-based company engaged in providing coke and refined petroleum products. The company is involved in manufacturing lubricating oils.

Products offered by the company

Automotive lubricants
Industrial lubricants
Marine & energy lubricants

Awards

2017

‘Eklavya’, Castrol India’s programme on skill development for mechanics, was awarded the runners-up prize at FICCI CSR Awards 2017.
Castrol India received the Golden Peacock Special Commendation for Excellence in Corporate Governance 2017 at a special ceremony in the UK.
Castrol India Limited was recognized as Best Company in the ‘Specialty Oils and Lubricants’ sector at the Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards 2017.
Castrol India’s road safety practices won the Best Practice Award at the Ramkrishna Bajaj ‘Making Quality Happen’ 2017 seminar.
Castrol India was winner of the INDIASTAR & PACMACHINE 2017 National Award in packaging design for the development of a unique e-promotional cap used in small retail packs.
Castrol India’s Silvassa plant was the recipient of the 16th Annual Greentech Safety Award for excellence in safety for the third consecutive year.

2018

Castrol India was the winner of the IMC Ramkrishna Bajaj National Quality Awards 2018 in the manufacturing category.
Castrol India won the Golden Peacock Innovation Management Award 2018 for fostering a culture of innovativeness.
Castrol India’s Silvassa plant became the first lubricants plant in India to be awarded the coveted Ford Q1 Certification.
Castrol India’s Patalganga plant was the winner of the Golden Peacock Occupational Health & Safety Award 2018 in the industrial sector.
Castrol India’s Silvassa and Paharpur plants were the recipients of the 17th Annual Greentech Safety Award 2018. Silvassa plant (first from left) won it for the fourth consecutive year.

2019

Castrol India’s manufacturing plants won several recognitions for their exemplary safety performance. The Patalganga plant was the winner of National Safety Council of India Award, the Paharpur plant received the Indian Chamber of Commerce National Occupational Health & Safety Gold Award (image on left) and the Silvassa plant received the GreenTech Safety Award for the fifth consecutive year.
Rashmi Joshi, Chief Financial Officer and Wholetime Director, Castrol India was awarded the overall winner of the Treasury Today Asia Woman of the Year Award at the Adam Smith Awards Asia 2019. She was recognized for demonstrating exceptional innovation in the corporate treasury domain.
Castrol CONNEKT digital tool won two awards at the ACEF Global Customer Engagement Awards in the category of Mobile Marketing for successful use of technology and marketing effectiveness.
Castrol CRB TURBOMAX Truck Aasana campaign was recognized across several national and international platforms, including a gold in the prestigious APAC Effie Awards 2019 in Automotive category (image on left), gold at the India Effie Award in the Automobiles and Experiential Marketing categories and at ACEF Global Customer Engagement Awards 2019 for PR effectiveness.
Castrol Sarathi Mitra, one of Castrol India’s flagship programmes for CSR, was recognized with the Grant Thornton SABERA Award 2019 for its positive impact towards the trucker community.
Kedar Apte, Vice President - Marketing, Castrol India was acknowledged as the CMO of the year for social responsibility at the Pitch CMO Awards 2020 for leadership in purpose-led marketing.

Milestones

2008: Castrol launched its Marine Bio range with improved environmental performance to help protect ocean life
2012: NASA's Curiosity rover began its mission on Mars, lubricated by a Castrol grease
2013: Castrol Industrial lubricates NASAs wheels of success-began its exciting mission on Mars in early August, an innovative Castrol Industrial lubricant called Castrol Braycote 601 EF helped ensure the smooth operation of Curiosity, from its wheels to its cameras
2014: Castrol India and Triumph Motorcycles signed an agreement for a partnership in India.
2015: Castrol launched Nexcel, an oil change system designed to reduce tailpipe emissions, recycle used oil and simplify oil changes
2017: Castrol launched its first bio-synthetic engine oil with 25% renewable plant-based oil

Frequently asked questions