Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd has decided to increase its investment in its Hamara brand of pumps for the rural segment this year.

It is expected to more than double such outlets this year from 450 to 1,000.

The rural segment is providing good return on investment of up to at least 50 per cent, especially since it is a high return on low investment model.

Every pump in the rural segment costs HPCL between Rs 10 lakh (Rs 1 million) and Rs 15 lakh (Rs 1.5 million).

In comparison, in the urban and semi-urban areas the investment for the same would be around Rs 1 crore (Rs 10 million).

Hamara Pumps have also tied up to sell a number of other agriculture oriented products such as fertilisers, farm equipment and better quality seeds.

HPCL is also planning to pump in Rs 101 crore (Rs 1.01 billion) to scale up operations in selected 400-500 pumps.

Over the next few months, before the end of the fiscal, 700 new outlets are expected to be set up.