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AkzoNobel has launched an aggressive five-year growth plan in India with the opening of a new industrial coatings plant near Bangalore.
The world’s largest paint and coatings company is aiming to increase revenues from its India operations to €1 billion ($1.37 billion US) within five years.
The new facility, which will produce coil and specialty plastic coatings, is located in Hoskote on an AkzoNobel site that now manufactures marine and protective coatings, automotive coatings and powder coatings.
‘Economic Powerhouse’
“India will develop into one of the world’s economic powerhouses, and it ranks very highly on our list of priority high-growth countries,” said Leif Darner, the AkzoNobel board member responsible for Performance Coatings.
“We are already well represented in India, but as the largest global producer of coatings, we are committed to making a significant contribution to the country’s continued development.”
Increasing capacity in India is critical to meet growing local demand, added Conrad Keijzer, Managing Director of AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings.
“This is being driven by a number of factors, particularly the rapid increase in average household incomes and the associated growth of the housing, construction, consumer electronics and automotive sectors.”
Coatings in Demand
The technologies most in demand in the region include laser-etch coatings for the automotive industry, soft-touch technology for smart phones, and coil coatings for high-performance steel and aluminum construction markets, the company reports.
The new Bangalore facility will be capable of manufacturing up to 18 million liters (about 4.8 million gallons US) per year, with scope for further expansion as demand grows in India and neighboring countries, AkzoNobel said.
AkzoNobel employs about 1,500 people in India, where it operates six production facilities, two research laboratories, and about a dozen sales locations, representing activities from across all of the company’s coatings and specialty chemicals businesses.
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