Birla Opus commissions 3 paint plants; 3 more in pipeline

Aditya Birla Group's new decorative paint business, Birla Opus, aims to disrupt the paint industry with 40% capacity addition from its six greenfield plants of which three are commissioned. The group is investing ₹10,000 crore in the plants with a total 1,332 million litres per annum capacity.

Soon after the launch of the business in Panipat, Aditya Birla Group chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla says the business would target a gross revenue of ₹10,000 crore in 3 years of full-scale operations. It will turn profitable with a revenue of ₹10,000 crore, he adds.

The ₹80,000-crore decorative paint market is currently dominated by Asian Paints, Berger Paints and Nerolac. JSW Paints is the new entrant in the sector. Birla Opus has so far no plans in industrial paints. "We expect double-digit growth in decorative paint business in the coming years. Birla Opus will enhance group's foothold in consumer focused business," he says. The group's flagship firm Grasim Industries is the parent company of Birla Opus.

"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 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," says Birla.

According to Birla, the paint business should be seen as a scale start-up incubated by the Aditya Birla Group. 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 expand distribution to over 6,000 towns by the fiscal year-end.

The Aditya Birla Group chairman also unveiled the brand logo of 'Birla Opus'. The name 'Birla Opus' embodies the trust that underpins the Aditya Birla brand, with 'Opus' signifying beauty personified. The word 'Opus' is derived from the Latin phrase "magnum opus", which represents a great work of art.

Birla Opus will offer the widest range in the industry, with over 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 the largest range of over 2,300 tintable colour choices including 216 iconic Indian colours. The brand is also set to attract consumers with its direct painting services, PaintCraft.

Rakshit Hargave, CEO, Birla Opus, says, "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 of water-based products. Birla Opus is also setting a benchmark by offering 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 already enrolled over 300,000 painting contractors and is starting a sampling program. It is building the second-largest network of dealers within the first year, said Birla. Birla Opus is installing for free, new age compact tinting machines with 40% reduced footprint enabling easier colour adoption. Birla Opus aims to meet the industry standard of four-hour delivery from its over 1200 SKUs.

Birla Opus started production from three fully automated plants in Panipat (Haryana), Ludhiana (Punjab) and Cheyyar (Tamil Nadu). Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Mahad (Maharashtra) and Kharagpur (West Bengal) units will commence production over the course of FY25.

As India's economy is expected to reach $10 trillion by 2034, the paints sector will grow to ₹3,00,000 crore mark by the time. Birla Opus is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this dynamic landscape, says Birla.