The Hindu Business Line : Hi-Build Coatings expands capacity

HI-BUILD Coatings Pvt Ltd, a Kochi-based company, has become a subsidiary of the Oman-based Sadolin Paints Ltd and expanded its capacity and operations.

The Oman company would have 60 per cent stake in the company with an estimated total investment of Rs 2.5 crore, Mr K.V. Narayanankutty, Managing Director of Hi-Build Coatings Private Ltd, told Business Line.

He said that 40 per cent of the equity in the company was held, apart from him, by Mr K.M. Nuruddin Mather and Mr K.S. Uduppa, who are the original promoters of Hi-Build Coatings.

The unit has been modernised and expanded to manufacture wood care products up to 10 million litres per annum. The products would range from protector products to finishing paints, he said.

The technology is from a Danish Company, Finn Giese. The unit at the South Kalamassery Major Industrial Estate near here expects to make an annual turn over of Rs 15 crore per annum.

Of late, there had been a good general demand for wood care products in Kerala and the annual demand is estimated at Rs 350 crore, i.e., five per cent of the all India market of Rs 6,000 crore to Rs 6,500 crore per annum.

There is an annual demand growth of 8 to 9 per cent and it is expected to continue for some time.

However, it is a highly competitive market with majors such as Asian Paints, Nerolac, ICI, Berger etc. controlling around 60 per cent of the market. Besides, Kerala has around 100 hundred small-scale units engaged in manufacturing paints.

Availability of housing loan at low interest rates has activated the house construction sector and this in turn has accelerated the demand for wood care products and paints.

Added to this, of late, there has been an aesthetic appreciation of wood works done in residential buildings in Kerala and this phenomenon has increased the use of wood care products rather than paints in windows, doors etc, he pointed out.

Given this situation, he said, the company hopes that its products would be absorbed by the Kerala market.

Formal inauguration of the expanded unit is scheduled for February 10, he added.

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