JSW Paints to set up a new plant, eyes pan-India footprint

JSW Paints aims to set up a new plant as it detects a powerful bounce back in demand from mid-August. The company, which joined the highly competitive paint market in 2019, is in the process of turning into a pan-India player with the phased roll-out in the northern and central states by year-end. The firm recently drew a $100 million private equity investment. Additionally, JSW group entity JSW Steel has committed investment of Rs 750 crore into the paints market. Parth Jindal, the Managing Director of JSW Paints, told the media that out of the Rs 750 crore investment by JSW Steel, the firm will utilise Rs 500 crore in the subsequent two years and keep the balance as a reserve. Of this, Rs 250 crore will be used for Capex and remaining in product publicity. JSW Paints was predominantly into industrial paints but is now winning traction in the decorative section. The firm intends to gain a topline of Rs 1,100 crore this fiscal of which decorative paints will value for Rs 550 crore of sales. Next year, decorative paint contribution will be around 70% of overall sales, and by FY24, the ratio will be 80:20 in support of decorative paints, Jindal said. The company is planning to install a new plant with a capacity of 1 lakh kl of decorative paint. Jindal said three possible locations have been recognised comprising JSW Steel’s recently procured Asian Colour Coated plant in Punjab, JSW Steel Colour Coated unit at Kamleshwar in Nagpur and JSW Cement-owned plant at Salboni in West Bengal. This comes even as the paint sector is buzzing with the entrance of challenging players like Aditya Birla Group company Grasim Industries which intends to invest Rs 5,000 crore over three years. Sequoia Capital-backed Indigo Paints is also increasing Rs 1,200 crore through an initial public offering. However, Jindal is unfettered and is pushing to make JSW Paints products available over the nation by end of this year, He is increasing capacity at both the existing plants in Vasind in Maharashtra and Vijayanagar in Karnataka. In Vasind, the capacity will surge to 60,000 kl pa from 25,000 kl. In decoration, the capacity will rise to 1.50 lakh kl pa from 90,000 kl at Vijayanagar. JSW Paints will have partnerships with at least 10,000 dealers to contact clients in most States excluding Jammu & Kashmir and the North-Eastern region. JSW Paints recently listed a case in the Competition Commission of India against Asian Paints and a few others for allegedly abusing their dominant position in several southern territories. Jindal said Asian Paints and other players are barring JSW Paints from stocking its products at the retailer's end. Despite all odds, the influential appearance in the steel and cement business has served JSW Paints to become the second-largest player in Bangalore, Nagpur and Hyderabad in just two years, he added. Image Source Also read: JSW Steel plans to raise $500 mn by dollar green bonds