Berger Paints India Ltd on Friday commissioned a new plant in Hindupur, Andhra Pradesh, with an initial capacity to make 80,000 tonnes paints a year. The company will invest around ₹550 crore in the project which will see the annual capacity go up to 3,20,000 tonnes in two phases.
The paint-maker and its partners are planning to set up more units in the area and make it an integrated paints complex, with ancillary units joining them.
The plant was inaugurated from Hyderabad by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy. The fully-automated and robot-assisted unit will help in meeting the growing demand for paint in the southern parts of the country.
“We are also in the process of setting up a unit for British Paints, another unit for the joint venture with Japanese company NBC (Nippon Bee Chemicals Co Ltd), a container manufacturing unit and other ancillaries, making it a fully integrated paints complex,” said Abhijit Roy, Managing Director and CEO, Berger Paints.
The venture with Japanese company, BNB Coatings India Ltd, makes paints for the automotive sector and supplies to companies such as Toyota Motor Corp. The Hindupur project will provide employment to about 400 people directly and to 1,500-2,000 people indirectly. Kuldip Singh Dhingra, Chairman, said the company now has 10 plants and continues to expand its presence into new segments. The commissioning of this water-based paints plant will help reach out to new markets in the region.
Berger Paints is set to raise prices of its decorative range of products by about 2.2 per cent with effect from February 1. This is the third hike brought about by the company during the current fiscal, taking the increase to about 4.8-5 per cent, CEO Roy said.
MRF to invest ₹900 cr Leading tyre manufacturer MRF is all set to invest about ₹900 crore in a new manufacturing plant adjacent to its existing facility in Medak district of Andhra Pradesh.
This will enable the company, which has secured nod from Andhra Pradesh Industries Department and the State Investment Promotion Board, to increase its manufacturing capability.
Speaking at a meeting after inauguration of paint facility here, Kiran Kumar Reddy said that this is one of the several projects in the State that is at an advanced stage.
The tyre manufacturer, which has a market share of over 30 per cent, has two manufacturing units in Andhra Pradesh, one at Sadasivpet established in the 1990s and the other at Ankapally in 2011.
The proposed brownfield plant will come up close to its existing unit in Sadasivpet where it manufactures tyres for automotives and aviation sectors.