India's second largest paint company — in terms of market share — Berger Paints to set up biggest ever greenfield venture near Lucknow at Sandila Industrial Estate with an investment of Rs 700 crore, which would be operational by next year January-February.

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In an exclusive conversation with Zee Business' Managing Editor Anil Singhvi, Berger Paints Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abhijit Roy unveils the company's future plans of expansion, which is working in almost full capacity post lowdown woes.

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"More than 100-year-old company — Berger Paints — is quite confident in reading and understanding the Indian customers unlike other international brands such as Kansai, Nippon among others despite having surplus cash and reach across globe," Roy explains.

The paint industry currently has around 13-14 per cent of CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) and is likely to grow more with technology and variation taking the centre stage.

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As pandemic, followed by lockdown had put everyone's plan on backtrack, the demand in paint sector was quite muted however, in September last year we saw the demand rising and has been so far steady and sustainable, Roy marked.

He added, the demand, so far, has been intact across market and in the current quarter we really see demand being increasing exponentially.

Before concluding, Roy also mentioned how volatility of crude oil impacts the other raw materials depended on it. And how eventually it impacts the input cost of the paint sector.

He confirms, a price hike in the sector provided the crude oil remains at the upper circuit.

Roy points out that the company is mulling to have capacity expansion at two plants to increase the production and demand within the customers. One we would be setting up immediately in another three-four months, whereas the other one by next year in Lucknow.

Speaking about the increasing competition in the paint sector, Roy tells Singhvi, "Rivalry brings innovation and gives birth to the new ideas, moreover, it also inspires the existing players to become more efficient and it drive us to plan new growth strategy."

(Authored by Vaibhav Bansode)