Japanese paint manufacturer Nippon Paint has drawn up a strategy to become a dominant player in the southern market by end 2019, a senior official said.
“Our expansion plan includes increasing the production volume, introducing more water-based products, penetrating into Tier-III cities of southern states and rolling out skill training programme for painters,” S. Mahesh Anand, President – Decorative Business, Nippon Paint (India) told The Hindu.
Nippon Paint has a facility at Sriperumbudur with capacity to produce 7,000 kilo litre per month. Currently, it operates at 35 per cent of its capacity.
Increase in productionThe company plans to increase the production to over 50 per cent in the coming months. About 60 per cent of the products are sold in the south and rest are transported to the north and west, he said.
“While the paint industry has been growing at the rate of 10 per cent CAGR per annum over the last three years, we are growing at 16 per cent. So, we are confident of increasing our market share and also the production capacity to 50 per cent,” he said.
According to him, Nippon Paint occupies the fifth slot in the country in decorative paints. It has three business lines – decorative, industrial and automotive. Decorative division accounts for over 50 per cent of the sales revenue followed by industrial and automotive divisions, he said.
“Painters are the mediators between the manufacturers and end users. So, we are planning to impart skill development programme to turn them into professionals. We will also give them dust-free mechanised sander similar to vacuum cleaner to carry out work faster and in a dust-free environment.
Initially, we will train 20 painters and this will be increased to 100 within six months,” he said.
Eco-friendlyStating Nippon Paint was the first company in India to receive GreenPro certification and GreenCo silver rating, he said they were the first company in the sector to position their products as green and eco-friendly. Efforts were on to get a platinum rating.
