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Toulouse-based multinational paint company Maestria Peintures & Systems has forayed into India with the launch of its eco-friendly non-VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) paints range here today.
The company said the products are made at a manufacturing unit set up at Cheriyal, Ishnapur near Hyderabad. Maestria plans to explore options to construct another greenfield manufacturing base as the business expands.
Benoit Maes, Chairman, Maestria Peintures and Systems, told BusinessLine , “We are upbeat on India where there is immense scope to expand with environment friendly and special application paints.”
Open to acquisitions
“While tapping into into new segments, including specialised applications, such as nuclear and special projects, as a leading European company with more than six decades of research and development, seeking to expand in India, we are also open to acquisitions if any opportunity comes up,” he said.
Set up in 1963, the company has presence in more than 25 countries and is operational across five continents. “With decades of expertise in decorative, industrial, floor coating and road marking paints, we are also looking at special applications paints and down the line services too,” Maes said.
V Nageshwara Rao, CEO of Maestria Paints India, said, “The company has set up a plant with an installed capacity of 20,000 tonnes per annum, with a potential to scale up to 40,000 tonnes per annum. We have initially invested about ₹40 crore in the facility and have also developed a supplier base.”
“As the business expands, we expect to invest up to ₹200 crore. We are also engaged in parleys with the Telangana Government for setting up of a greenfield manufacturing unit which could potentially entail an outlay of ₹250 crore,” he said.
The country’s paint industry is estimated at ₹50,000 crore and expected to grow to be a ₹70,000 crore business in the next two-three years. While it is growing at about 12 per cent per annum, the per capita consumption is still low at 3.6 kg compared to other markets 15 kg. This offers us scope to expand, Rao said.
The French company expects to initially focus on the southern States and later expand to western region and then go pan-India, Rao said.
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