Aditya Birla Group eyes Rs 10,000 Crore Revenue in three years for its Paint business 'Birla Opus'
Mumbai-based cement-to-aluminium conglomerate Aditya Birla Group is aiming for Rs 10,000 crore gross revenue from its paint business within three years of full-scale operations, chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Thursday while announcing the launch of products and services under its new decorative paints brand “Birla Opus” in Panipat, Haryana.
This announcement marks the Aditya Birla Group's entry into the rapidly expanding Rs. 80,000 crore Indian decorative paints market, with an upfront investment of Rs 10,000 crore. Birla Opus business is being set up by the group flagship company, Grasim Industries Ltd.
“The Aditya Birla Group's deep insight into the building materials ecosystem, honed over the years, offers us a unique vantage point. Birla Opus, therefore, is poised to transform the paint industry with a 40% addition to its current capacity. No paint company globally has ever launched in one shot—factories, operations, products, and services—at the scale that we are about to undertake,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group.
He added, "Birla Opus should be seen as a scale start-up incubated by the Aditya Birla Group. It uniquely combines the agility, energy, and frugality of a start-up with the muscle, reliability, and brand strength of a storied and dynamic conglomerate."
Birla Opus products will be available in Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu from mid-March 2024 and across all 1 lakh population towns in India by July 2024. The company aims to expeditiously expand its distribution to over 6,000 towns by the end of the fiscal year. The company claimed this would be the fastest and widest pan-India launch by any paint brand.
Birla Opus will offer 145+ products and 1200+ SKUs across water-based paints, enamel paints, wood finishes, waterproofing and wallpapers.
The products offered will be across consumer segments: economy, premium, luxury, designer finishes and institutional clients. In addition, Birla Opus will present 2,300+ tintable colour choices, including 216 ‘iconic’ Indian colours.
Rakshit Hargave, CEO, Birla Opus, said, "On the back of strong in-house R&D and extensive field validations, Birla Opus is committing to a higher product warranty than the leading players across most water-based products. Birla Opus is also setting a benchmark by offering a first-time warranty on enamels and wood finish products. As a customer-centric organisation, Birla Opus is poised to introduce a unique and pathbreaking customer assurance program shortly. As part of the inaugural offer, consumers will get an additional 10% volume on water-based products and contractors will get loyalty benefits across most of our products."
Birla Opus has six manufacturing plants with a total commercial capacity of 1,332 MLPA (million litres per annum)—a big leap of 40% addition to the current industry capacity. Panipat (Haryana), Ludhiana (Punjab) and Cheyyar (Tamil Nadu) Birla Opus plants are operational as of Thursday. Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Mahad (Maharashtra) and Kharagpur (West Bengal) units will commence production over the course of FY 25.
India's economy is expected to reach 10 trillion USD by 2034, with the paints sector set to surpass the Rs 3,00,000 crore mark by that time. Birla Opus is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this dynamic landscape, the company said.
Now that Birla has officially entered the decorative paints business, it will face stiff competition from incumbent players, especially current market leader Asian Paints. Besides Asian Paints, players such as Nerolac, Berger Paints and Kansai.