India's state owned Andrew Yule-controlled lubricant maker Tide Water Oil Co plans to set up a production facility in Germany, Kallol Dutta, group chairman and managing director, said Monday.

This would probably be the company's first step towards taking its Veedol brand of lubricants to the European market.

"We hope to set up a production unit in Germany by the beginning of next year. We are currently chalking out the branding plans and our team has visited Germany," he said.

According to him, Veedol has a historic brand loyalty in Germany. However, he did not divulge further details regarding the investment and capacity of the proposed plant in Germany.

"We cannot say anything on capacity as discussions are on," he said. The company acquired Veedol International Ltd from British Petroleum, which has marketing rights in more than 120 countries, in 2011-12.

Tide Water has also rolled out its sales operations in West Asia through its Dubai-based Veedol International DMCC brand.

According to Managing Director R.N. Ghosal, the company has started exporting Veedol lubricants to Nepal and Bangladesh.