ASIAN PAINTS (INDIA) LIMITED
The siege is over, and the time has come for the leader to sally forth into greener pastures. Even as the paints industry is emerging from the shadow of recession, Asian Paints (India) Limited (APIL), is mixing new shades to emerge with winning colors.
Says their Managing director: "With proper planning and a comprehensive approach to issues, we intend to keep pace with the growth of the industry".
APIL is actually targeting a growth rate that is higher than the 9 to 10 per cent that the industry has been averaging recently.
APIL's approach is multipronged: expansion of its product range and introduction of value added, niche products in the industrial paints area; line extensions of existing products to …show more content…

Over the past year, a variety of new brands have been added to its product range. The company has made an attempt to extend its marketing and distribution beyond the country's major towns, to which its activities were hitherto confined.
'Utsav', an economically priced brand, was launched last year and is targeted at small households with limited budgets. This project concentrated mainly on consumers in South and Western India. , thus widening the accessibility of its products to all consumer levels.
Their General Manager says that "the degree of penetration concentrates on how economical it is to do business." He says that though this new product has performed favorably, it has not contributed much to the profits of the year. "Of course, it promises to be a very good and attractive segment for future business," he adds, when asked about its future growth and profit potential.
Other new products also include powder paints to be used for both auto and non-auto appliances. There are other products like wood finishing (Touch-wood) that takes care of refinishing on furniture.
To strengthen its industrial product base, APIL has collaborated with PPG industries, an American firm, and thus enjoys the use of cathode electro deposition primer (CED). The company has concluded a tie-up with