Continental Petroleums is a family-run industrial company that started in 1986 by turning used oil into lubricants and has since built two more businesses on the back of that original engine - a hazardous-waste incinerator and a power-infrastructure contracting division. Founded by an IIT Delhi mechanical engineer with over four decades in petroleum, the company still operates from a single factory campus in Behror, Rajasthan, and reports all its activities as one segment because lubricants and greases remain its mainstay. The recurring pattern is simple: use the cash and industrial know-how from one mature operation to enter a tightly regulated, hard-to-replicate neighbour - first incineration, then turnkey electrification contracts - each time betting on stricter rules and government spending to create demand.
Business segments
Three engines built on a single industrial campus - a legacy lubricants brand, a hazardous-waste incinerator that is the only one of its kind in the state, and a power-infrastructure EPC division riding public electrification spending - each born from the cash flows and regulatory know-how of the one before.
1. CONTOL Lubricants & Greases: the branded cash engine
A 38-year-old proprietary brand selling over 50 packaged lubricant and grease products to automotive and industrial buyers across nine Indian states and 15 export countries, with the company deliberately walking away from low-margin bulk oil to focus on higher-value packaged specialties.
- Own brand, own factory - the company manufactures under the registered name ‘CONTOL’ on a 20,000 sq-metre industrial plot in Behror, Rajasthan, running four automated plants with a combined capacity of 7,300 kilolitres of lube oils and 3,000 metric tonnes of greases per year. It holds ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications and uses additives from global leaders Lubrizol and Chevron Oronite-USA, so its formulations meet BS-6 and international specifications.
- Shifted from commodity to specialty - management deliberately exited bulk oil sales and now concentrates on packaged products under its own label, including high-performance synthetic BS-6 lubricants and customised industrial greases, which carry better margins and stickier customer relationships. The company also runs an opportunistic trading desk that helps it manage procurement costs for raw materials.
- Distribution reach without owning retail - the domestic network covers nine states (Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh), while exports reach 15 countries including Honduras, Guinea, Mali, Madagascar, and Sri Lanka. The company is now exploring original-equipment-manufacturer partnerships to secure steadier offtake.
- Raw-material risk is the price of the model - base oil costs swing with global crude and the US dollar, so the company keeps optimal stock levels and uses its own storage-tank space to buffer against spikes. The shift to electric vehicles is a longer-term headwind, which is why the company is pushing into import-substitute solvents and chemicals to reduce its reliance on automotive lubricants alone.
2. Hazardous Waste Incineration: the regulatory moat
The only common hazardous-waste incineration facility in Rajasthan, earning a per-tonne fee from pharmaceutical, chemical, petrochemical, and auto-ancillary clients who have no alternative compliant disposal route.
- Scarce permit, captive demand - the Common Treatment & Disposal Facility (CTDF) was established in 2020 in Behror and is described as the only unit of its kind in the state, with permission also secured to serve neighbouring Haryana. It handles solid, liquid, and aqueous waste, and its capacity was expanded from 4,500 to 6,030 metric tonnes annually after obtaining environmental clearances from the Ministry of Environment & Forest.
- Compliance is the product - the facility is among the few fully compliant incineration units capable of handling diverse waste categories, which matters because stricter environmental rules force more industries to use authorised disposal rather than cheaper informal alternatives. The company enforces health, safety, and environment policies and has adopted a ‘Clean and Green Policy’ as part of its operating culture.
- Running at half capacity with room to grow - utilisation sits at 48-52%, meaning the plant can absorb significantly more volume without new capital expenditure. The company is evaluating both an expansion of incineration capacity and entry into new regions, and shareholders have already approved a 90,000-metric-tonne-per-annum waste-mix processing facility to supply alternate fuel to cement makers like Shree Cement, Ultratech, Ambuja, and Wonder.
3. EPC Projects: the public-spending tailwind
A turnkey contractor that builds power-distribution infrastructure for state electricity boards, earning milestone payments on multi-year government contracts - currently anchored by a Rs. 212-crore project under the central government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.
- Turnkey means one throat to choke - the division handles supply, erection, installation, testing, and commissioning of distribution equipment, plus survey work, feeder separation, and replacement of bare low-tension lines with aerial-bunched cables, all billed at project milestones. The flagship contract is with Jaipur’s electricity distribution company (JVVNL) for the Dausa circle, awarded in March 2023 under the RDSS scheme and executed in a joint venture with Trident Technical Resources Pvt. Ltd..
- A third-generation family member runs it - the EPC division’s business development and operations are led by Shreyans Khandelwal, the founder’s grandson, giving the company a direct family stake in the success of this newer, less predictable engine.
Group structure and partners
A promoter-controlled, single-entity company that has just begun consolidating a related-party lubricants exporter through a share-swap and cash acquisition, while its EPC work relies on a joint-venture partner.
- No subsidiaries until very recently - as of the FY25 annual report, the company had no subsidiaries, joint ventures, or associates, but it has since acquired a 49.58% stake in Unique Techno Associates Private Limited via a share swap and agreed to buy another 24,999 equity shares for cash, taking its holding to 88.2%. Unique is an export-focused lubricants and greases manufacturer operating from a Special Economic Zone in Dahej, Gujarat, selling to over 10 countries, and its promoters are also promoters of Continental, making this a related-party transaction.
- The board is family-led with independent oversight - the eight-member board includes three executive directors from the Khandelwal family (the founder as Chairman and Managing Director, his son Navneet as CEO, and his son Vikrant as CFO), one non-executive woman director from the family, and four independent directors.
- Key external relationships are concentrated - HDFC Bank is the sole banker, R.P. Khandelwal & Associates are the statutory auditors, and the EPC division’s flagship project was secured solely by Continental Petroleums Limited, so a handful of counterparties matter disproportionately. The company also maintains strategic additive-supply partnerships with Lubrizol and Chevron Oronite-USA for its lubricants business.