Fortune India Exclusive: From insolvency to innovation: Welspun bets big on Sintex’s expansion beyond tanks and pipes

When the BK Goenka-led Welspun Group acquired the nearly 50-year-old Sintex-BAPL (the water tank business) through the insolvency resolution process under the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in 2023 for ₹1,251 crore, it wasn’t merely buying a distressed asset. It was a calculated bet on a brand that had retained consumer loyalty even during its most challenging phase.

“In its worst time during NCLT, when bank accounts were frozen and parts of the business were shut, the company was still cash-positive,” said Yashovardhan Agarwal, Managing Director of Welspun BAPL and Director at Sintex, in an exclusive interaction with Fortune India.

“For three years in NCLT, dealers were paying in advance. In an industry that runs on credit, that tells you the power of the brand,” he said.

Agarwal attributes this resilience to Sintex’s unwavering focus on product quality. While certain loss-making divisions were discontinued, the company ensured that product standards were never compromised. As a result, many consumers remained unaware that the company was undergoing insolvency proceedings.

The acquisition was executed through Propel Plastic Products Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of Welspun Corp Limited, along with group company Plastauto. The move aligned with Welspun’s broader strategy to strengthen its presence in the building materials and water solutions segment.

From storage to solutions

Welspun is now repositioning Sintex from a water storage player to a comprehensive water and health solutions brand. Agarwal believes the opportunity is closely tied to India’s growing water security concerns, noting that while the country houses nearly 18% of the global population, it has access to only about 4% of freshwater resources.

“India has 18% of the world’s population but only about 4% of its freshwater resources. With rising urbanisation and consumption, water quality and recycling will become critical issues,” he said.

Rather than treating Sintex as a standalone water storage company, Welspun sees it as an entry point into households across tier 2 and tier 3 cities, where brand trust runs deep.

“Sintex gives us access to homes without introduction. People may not know Welspun, but they know Sintex. That trust is invaluable,” Agarwal said.

The company has since expanded into pipes and fittings, positioning itself around safe and hygienic water solutions. Agarwal said Sintex has introduced what it claims is the world’s first antimicrobial CPVC pipe, developed through in-house R&D.

“Our mission is to provide safe water from the point it enters the house to the point it exits — storage, transport and protection,” he said. The company is investing in technologies to reduce microbial growth and improve hygiene within household plumbing systems, he added.

The broader idea, he says, is to safeguard families. “A family may purify 50 litres of drinking water, but it uses hundreds of litres of untreated water daily. We want to address that.”

₹2,355 crore expansion plan

To support this transformation, Sintex’s parent, Welspun Corp, has announced a ₹2,355 crore investment plan focused on expanding manufacturing capacity and setting up new facilities across Telangana, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Of this, approximately ₹1,200 crore has already been deployed, Agarwal said.

Since the acquisition, the company has expanded from five plants to seven, including a large facility in Bhopal that will serve as a key manufacturing hub for pipes and fittings.

Historically, Sintex once commanded nearly 70% market share in the water tank segment. While regaining such dominance will take time, Welspun remains optimistic. The company aims to significantly scale both its tanks and pipes businesses over the next four to five years, positioning Sintex as a long-term play in India’s evolving water and sanitation ecosystem, said Agarwal.