The Indian Oil Corporation was formerly known as the Indian Refining Company Limited (IRCL), established by the Indian government in 1958. Oil Company and Shell Oil Company started a price war to squeeze Indian Oil Corporation Limited out of the market, but Indian Oil Corporation, with the support of the government, defeated the foreign oil companies and emerged as the leading Indian oil company limited by merger to form Indian Oil Corporation. With the rapid industrialisation of India, oil imports were increasing and a significant portion of the country's foreign exchange was absorbed by oil imports. In this context, the government declared a ban on the import of petroleum and petroleum products by private companies, thus informally granting the Indian Oil Corporation a monopoly on petroleum imports. By the mid-1960s, the Indian government changed its policy and began to allow foreign oil companies to expand their production capacity again, and Indian oil companies entered into swap agreements with major oil companies in order to facilitate the sale of refined petroleum products.
After the 1970s, with the help of the former Soviet government and other foreign companies, the Indian Oil and Gas Commission discovered several important oil and gas fields off the coast of India, thereby increasing its domestic oil supplies. after the oil crisis of 1973, the role of Indian oil companies in the life of the Indian economy rose rapidly. The company also began to import oil from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait and other countries at this time. At the same time, India decided to nationalise the country's remaining oil plants, taking over the Burma Shell Refinery at Bombay and the Kartix Refinery at Vizagapatnam in 1976 (incorporating them into Hindustan Petroleum. which was originally a joint venture between the Government of India and Esso Petroleum.) In 1981, the Indian Oil Corporation took over part of the refining and marketing operations from Assam Oil. oil consumption in India continued to increase at an annual rate of 8% in the late 1980s.
The oil market in the 1990s was even more volatile, with oil prices closely linked to the world's political situation. However, the company remained steadfast in its determination to make a significant contribution to the Indian oil industry. At the same time, the company diversified into international trade.