Decorative paints go green, make a case for repaint market

Speaking about this need of the industry, S Mahesh Anand, President, Decorative Business, Nippon Paint (India) (P) Ltd, says, “Across the country, manufacturers of decorative paints are aiming at boosting sales, by introducing innovations that would bring down the repainting intervals. For instance, the per capita consumption of paints in India stands at about 3 kg per person, whereas it’s about 8 kg in Sri Lanka. If buyers choose to repaint their house, every two to three years, the per capita consumption would increase leading to a rise in sales.”

The company, part of the Singapore-based Nipsea Group, which set foot in India in 2006, set up their base in Chennai with a plant in Sriperumbudur. Mahesh says the parent company was always keen on starting operations in India as it happens to be the second biggest market for paints in Asia, following China. He tells us, “When we arrived here, there were already major players in the paint market, such as Asian Paints, Berger and Dulux. So we had our work cut out for us. With a focus on human and eco-friendly products, we concentrated on water-based paints in the emulsion category.”

Speaking about numbers, Mahesh says that the company has a significant presence in south India and a fair presence up north. “Nationally, our products constitute about 2 per cent of the paint market. Water-based emulsions make up for about 80 to 82 per cent of our sales. Once we consolidate our market in South India, we will look into expansion in other parts of the country by 2018 or 2019.”

Having been awarded the GreenCo and GreenPro certificates from the Indian Green Building Council, the company, according to Mahesh, is one of the few in India that can boast of green products and green manufacturing processes. The company has also taken up initiatives to strengthen their Make in India connect.

Mahesh says, “There is a huge population in India that is unemployed and unskilled. In order to get a quality output in terms of work, they need to be skilled. We have started a training academy called PROCEED (Pro-Career, Education, Empowerment and Development) that facilitates in turning those employed in painting works into professionals. We enroll painters from different places and conduct a 10-day workshop to help skill the painter community. We are in process of getting the programme recognised by the NSDC, which will help the painters career wise in the future. We aim to set up two more of these academies in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities in Tamil Nadu.”