AT Kearney to pen ICI capacity spread plan

Paints major ICI India has appointed international consultant A T Kearney for expanding capacity at two of its manufacturing units in India.

The company will be debottlenecking plants located in Thane and Hyderabad to increase capacities by 20-25 per cent, a company official said here yesterday.

"The consultant will come up with a suggestion in another two months. Following which we will start the process engineering activities. Expanded capacity will be ready for utilisation within a year from now," Hina Nagarajan, general manager ICI India (paints division), said.

A T Kearney has worked with ICI for the same purpose in Thailand and Malaysia. In India, ICI has three plants. The facility at Mohali will not be expanded at present.

ICI's paint business, contributing 60 per cent of company's total turnover, has been growing at a steady pace of 17-18 per cent. The company intended to grow in the same pace. The capacity expansion is being carried out with an eye for the future requirement, Nagarajan added. So far, ICI was utilising about 75-80 per cent of the capacity at existing units.

The company, which went through prolonged restructuring, has divested number of its 'non-core' businesses over the years and, as a consequence, the focus on paints has increased.

Within the ambit of paints business, decorative segment was the largest revenue grosser for ICI.

The company enjoyed overall market share of about 10 per cent in decorative paints. But it had higher share in the premium category of exterior and interior paints business with 'Dulux' brand which got superbrand status lately.

The company has come up with four-five products in last two years and plans were afoot to launch many more in near future. With focus on exterior segment, ICI brought out 'Dulux Weathershield Max' and 'Dulux Tileshield'. It would soon come out with two more products, texturised exterior paint and a pre treatment coat, Nagarajan informed.

The exterior market was now pegged at Rs 600 crore and it was growing at 25 per cent per annum. "A shift is happening from cement based paints to emulsion. The new products are aimed to capture higher market share in this space," she added.