$1-tr investment in infra to boost paints & coatings demand

Indian paints and coatings industry has shown impressive growth, with entry of many international players, but still a lot need to be done to meet the customer demands
Increased government funding for infrastructure would result in significant demand for paints and coatings both in industrial and decorative segment, thereby opening tremendous opportunity for the Indian paints industry poised for further growth.
“One-trillion-dollar investment in infrastructure is going to be a huge opportunity for paints and coating industry to grow,” emphasised Jayant Davar, Chairman, CII Northern Region while talking at the India Surface Coating Show 2013, recently held in Delhi.
Indian paints and coatings industry is playing crucial role for sustainable growth in manufacturing sector. Mr Davar further added that Indian paints and coatings industry has shown impressive growth, with entry of many international players, but still a lot need to be done to meet the customer demands. “Demand for industrial paints is expected to accelerate backed by growth in the automobile sector shortly,” he said.
Ramesh C Jain, Conference Chairman, India Surface Coating Show 2013, said that Indian manufacturing is poised to grow wherein the contribution of paint and coating industry is critical in meeting the need of automotive sector which in turn has major contribution in Indian economic growth. He said that current scenario provides wonderful opportunities to the Indian paint industry to adapt to the aspirations of the Indian buyer in terms of cost and technology to meet the challenges of the future. Indian paint and coating industry is passing through unique phase in which growth has to be achieved with combination of technology; cost innovation and environmental sustainability has to be maintained with the increase in volumes.
Arvind Kapur, Chairman and MD, Rico Auto Industries, shared that manufacturing sector is the cornerstone of Indian economy and plays a pivotal role to support this growth cycle. He called for the industry to be more cost competitive and innovative to meet the customers’ aspirations and needs. He added that paint and coating industry has a significant role to play to accelerate the economic growth. He also said that Indian paints and coating industry has prospered and continues to deliver strong products for the industrial consumer with innovative technology.
Present at the conference, Lalit Kumar Pahwa, CEO, Escorts Ltd., said that process innovation is critical for the Indian paint industry. He added that energy consumption has an impact on environment and productivity and hence its needs to be conserved efficiently. “We need to innovate on equipment design in terms of space, shape and durability and also focus on Kaizen concept to improve production process and technologies,” he added.

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