Grasim Industries to enter paint business under 'Birla Opus' brand name

Grasim Industries on Thursday unveiled the brand name of its paints business as 'Birla Opus', wherein the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group has plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore.

Birla Opus will be launched in Q4FY24 and compete with the players in the decorative paints segment, said a statement from the Aditya Birla group firm Grasim Industries.

Grasim had last year doubled its planned investment to Rs 10,000 crore in setting up the paints business, where it will compete with the existing makers including Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Kansai Nerolac Paints, and Akzo Nobel India, among others.

The company has set manufacturing plants at six locations in Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal. It will have a total capacity of 1,332 million litres per annum (MLPA) and serve demand centres across the country, it said.

Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said their foray into decorative paints is a strategic portfolio choice that enables them to tap into a high-growth market.

"The company has over the last couple of years built a strong foundation to enable a successful business launch. We endeavour to become a profitable No.2 player in the coming years and announcing our brand name is the first of many steps that will follow in this direction," he said.

The current estimated value of India's decorative paints industry stood at Rs 70,000 crore and it is witnessing double-digit growth year-on-year driven by rising consumer aspirations and the government's push towards 'Housing for All'.

Grasim is a diversified company of the Aditya Birla Group and ranks amongst the top publicly listed companies in India.

For the financial year ended on March 31, 2023, Grasim Industries had a growth of 23 per cent in consolidated revenues from operations, reaching an all-time high of Rs 1.17 lakh crore.