Kajaria Ceramics Limited (KCL) is engaged into the business of manufacturing, selling and distribution of Ceramic and Vitrified Wall and Floor Tiles. It has an annual capacity of 81.55 million square meters (MSM) and being distributed across 8 plants, 1 in Sikandrabad (Uttar Pradesh), 1 in Gailpur (Rajasthan), 1 in Malootana (Rajasthan), 3 in Morbi (Gujarat), 1 at SriKalahasti(Andhra Pradesh) and 1 in Balanagar (Telangana).
Kajaria Ceramics Limited (KCL) was incorporated on 20 December, 1985. The Company came out with a public issue in Sep.'88 to set up a factory at Sikandrabad, Uttar Pradesh. The Commercial production of this unit is commenced in Aug.'88.
KCL has expanded the capacity in stages all this years. Started with mere 12000 tpa in 1988, the total installed capacity (of both the units at sikandrabad and Alwar) has jumped to 160000 tpa by 1999. In 1995 the company has increased the total capacity of Sikandarabad unit to 80000 tpa and in 1998-99 the company completed the new unit for manufacturing floor and wall tiles at Village Gailpur in Alwar District of Rajasthan at a cost of Rs.98 crores thus increasing the total capacity to 150000 tpa. In 2000-01, the total capacity stood at 160000 tpa.
KCL becomes the first ceramic tile company in India to be accredited with the ISO 9002. KCL which won prestigious Capexil Special Export award (given for the highest export made in a year) three times in succession in 1992, 1993, 1994 & 1997 has also bagged it again for the year 1999-2000. It exports to the Europe, west Asia and SAARC countries and it has plans to tap the export potential in Australia, South Africa, Vietnam, North America and Singapore.
KCL is adopting a novel strategy/ concept i.e. mock bathrooms, kitchens, and living rooms in organized retailing. It has also pumped in Rs.25 million in Kajaria Plus Ltd, thus making this marketing company of ceramic products it's subsidiary. In Feb 2001, the company has also entered the Australian Market by floating a subsidiary company in Australia, M/s Kajaria Ceramics (Aus) Pty Ltd with an initial investment of Rs.10.86 Million.
The company has expanded the installed capacity of Ceramic Tiles during the financial year 2003-04 by 2300000 SqM and with this expansion; the total capacity rose to 13800000 sq. m.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2009, Kajaria Ceramics extended its reach by adding dealers and sub-dealers to its distribution network. During the year, the company opened seven new Kajaria World showrooms. During the year, the company commenced the import of international quality sanitary ware, which is being marketed under the Kerovit' brand and is showcased at the Kajaria World outlets, providing customers with complete bathroom solutions.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2010, Kajaria Ceramics increased its product offering, thereby strengthening its recall as an innovative tile manufacturer. The team developed more than 60 new design concepts in 2009-10; it introduced the paper finish and satin wallpaper finish for its wall tiles. The company introduced more than 40 designs for the power line series, comprising large format tiles, where the floor tile design matched with that of wall tiles. The company ventured into manufacturing new dimension (15x60 cms) wall tiles with a wooden flooring look in December 2009. The company commissioned its 2.40 million square metres (MSM) vitrified tile facility at Sikandrabad (Uttar Pradesh) in February 2010; adding a margin-accretive product vertical to the business model. This facility will replace some part of imports with in-house manufacturing, strengthening the company's profitability.
Kajaria Ceramics commissioned a 6 million square metres (MSM) tiles brownfield expansion (polished and glazed vitrified) on 29 March 2011 at Gailpur with an investment of Rs 129.90 crore and converted 2.60 MSM capacity of ceramic floor tile into vitrified tile manufacturing at Sikandrabad unit on 28 March 2011 with an investment of Rs 20.30 crore. During the financial year ended 31 March 2011, the company acquired a 51% stake in Soriso Ceramic Pvt. Ltd., a Gujarat-based floor tile manufacturing company (capacity 2.30 MSM per annum) for Rs 5.62 crore which is expected to increase the volumes of large format tiles and strengthen Kajaria Ceramics' capability in catering to the West and South markets. During the year, Kajaria Ceramics received gas connection from GAIL for the company's Gailpur facility replacing high-cost propane with R-LNG - significantly reducing the power and fuel cost. During the year, Kajaria Ceramics entered into a marketing tie up with Eczacibasi Yapi Gerecleri A.S., a leading European manufacturer, for selling its high-end VitrA' bathware products in India.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2012, Kajaria Ceramics embarked on a brownfield capacity expansion project (from 2.30 million square metres to 4.60 million square metres) at its Soriso unit at total investment of Rs 3 crore, which is significantly lesser than the initial investment. During the year, the company acquired 51% stake in Jaxx Vitrified Pvt. Ltd, Gujarat, with an annual capacity of 3.10 million square metres (MSM) of polished vitrified tiles at an investment of Rs 6.26 crore. The unit commenced operations in March 2012.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2013, Kajaria Ceramics acquired a 51% stake in Vennar Ceramics Ltd., Andhra Pradesh having a 2.30 million square metres (MSM) ceramic wall tiles manufacturing facility. The unit commenced production on 1 July 2012, which facilitated Kajaria Ceramics to strengthen its foothold in the South Indian markets. Kajaria Ceramics also acquired a 51% stake in Cosa Ceramics, Gujarat, with an annual capacity of 2.70 MSM double charge-vitrified tile - a premium segment. This allows Kajaria Ceramics to cater to the well-heeled Western Indian markets with speed and increased product diversity. During the year, Kajaria Ceramics converted the 3 MSM soluble salt (low-end PVT segment) manufacturing line to a glazed vitrified line which will produce polished GVT with nano-finish - a better value added product.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2014, Kajaria Ceramics commissioned a 3.40 million square metres glazed vitrified tile unit in the area vacated by the closure of the polished vitrified tile unit at Sikandrabad facility. During the year, Jaxx Vitrified, a subsidiary of Kajaria Ceramics, acquired a unit proximate to its existing facility having 2.60 MSM capacity for manufacturing polished vitrified tile at an investment of Rs 35 crore. The unit strengthened Kajara Ceremics' presence in West and South India markets. During the year, WestBridge Crossover Fund, LLc. agreed to invest Rs 150 crore in Kajaria Ceramics. Kajaria issued 20 lac equity shares at a price of Rs 250 per share aggregating to Rs 50 crore and Rs 38.85 lac warrants convertible into equity shares of the company at a price Rs 257.372433 per share aggregating to Rs 100 crore. These warrants are convertible by November 2014. The company received Rs 25 crore as advance towards warrants.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2015, Kajaria Ceramics added 3 million square metres of ceramic floor tile capacity. During the year, the company introduced an exclusive range of ceramic wall tiles in a new size of 25x75 cm and more than 200 new designs in existing sizes. During the year, the company opened 50 large exclusive Kajaria Prima showrooms with state-of-the-art display. In polished vitrified tiles segment, the company added 7.8 million square metres per annum capacity during the year. In glazed vitrified tiles segment, operations were stabilized at Kajaria Ceramics' 3.4 million square metres new production line at Sikandrabad (Uttar Pradesh), which strengthened supplies to dealers. During the year, the company initiated exports of glazed vitrified tiles to key destinations, namely the USA, UK, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Australia, Taiwan and the Middle East. In sanitary ware and faucets segment, the company commissioned a 7-lac-piece facility at Morbi, Gujarat in May 2014.The Company commissioned a 1 million pieces faucet facility at Gailpur (Rajasthan) in July 2015. Kajaria Ceramics' 6.50-million square metre Greenfield facility to manufacture polished vitrified tiles at Malutana (Rajasthan) commenced operations in January 2016.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2016, the company added 3 million square metres of glazed vitrified tile capacity by converting one manufacturing line from polished vitrified tiles to glazed vitrified tiles.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2017, Kajaria Ceramics commissioned a polishing line at its Gailpur unit to manufacture Hi-Definition Polished Digital Ceramic Floor Tiles (60x60cm). During the year, the company launched 80x80cm Polished ceramic floor tiles for the first time in the country. During the year, the company developed and launched more than 100 designs within the existing product ranges in Ceramic Wall and Floor tiles segment. Also during the year, the company launched a new dealer format showroom called Prima Plus' dedicated to Kajaria's ceramic wall and floor tiles only, making 41 such dealer showrooms in the first year of the introduction of this concept.
In Polished Vitrified Tiles segment, Kajaria Ceramics added new designs to its large product basket aligned to global trends and customer aspirations. During the year, the company replaced the production of soluble slats (commodity products) with double-charge tiles (high-value variant) in some of its Polished Vitrified Tiles manufacturing facilities. During the year, the company converted its ceramic floor tile manufacturing line at Sikandrabad to manufacture large format glazed vitrified tiles - enhancing the capacity of this product category to 8.40 MSM per annum. Also during the year, the company commenced production of large format Glazed Vitrified tiles (120x120 cms, 120x180 cms and 29x180 cms) to be marketed under the Ultima' brand.
During the year 2016-17, the Board of Directors had adopted a Scheme of Arrangement, which provides for, inter-alia, the amalgamation of Kajaria Securities Private Limited (KSPL) with the Company with appointed date as closing hours of business on 31st March, 2017 and the same was filed before the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench (NCLT) vide application dated 16th March, 2017, for approval under Sections 230-232 and 66 read with other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016.During the year under review, the Scheme has been approved by the NCLT on February 6, 2018. Pursuant to the Scheme, KSPL amalgamated into the Company and 6,46,69,867 fully paid up equity shares of face value Re1 each of the Company held by KSPL, have been cancelled/extinguished. Further, 6,46,69,867 fully paid up equity shares of face value Re1 each have been allotted, to the shareholders of KSPL, in proportion of their respective shareholding in KSPL. However, there is no change in the paid up share capital of the Company, after the above said cancellation/allotment. Pursuant to the Scheme, all the properties, assets, rights, claims and obligations of KSPL have been transferred and vested in the Company on a going concern basis with effect from the Appointed Date, i.e. closing hours of business on 31st March 2017.
During the year 2018, Taurus Tiles Private Limited ceased to be the subsidiary of the Company.
During the FY2019, Subscribed 38,50,000 equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up of Kajaria Plywood Private Limited (KPPL) and accordingly, KPPL became a subsidiary of the Company. Also acquired 30,00,000 equity shares at Rs 10 each of Kajaria Floera Ceramics Private Limited (Floera) and accordingly, Floera, became a Wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. During the year,Soriso Ceramic Private Limited ceased to be a subsidiary of the Company.
As on 31st March, 2020, the Company had 6 subsidiaries and 1 step-down subsidiary.
During the year 2019-20, the Board of Directors had adopted a Scheme of Arrangement, which provides for, inter-alia, the amalgamation of Kajaria Tiles Private Limited (Formerly known as Kajaria Floera Ceramics Private Limited), wholly-owned subsidiary with the Company with appointed date as 1st April, 2019 (Scheme') and the same was filed before the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench (NCLT') vide application dated 26th September, 2019 for approval under Sections 230-232 read with other applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (Compromises, Arrangements and Amalgamations) Rules, 2016. The Company has received the order dated 3rd February, 2020 from the National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh with respect to the first motion application filed by the Company. The Company has filed the Second Motion Application with the National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench, Chandigarh.
Due to COVID-19, the Company temporarily suspended the operations in all the units of the Company. COVID-19 has impacted the normal business operations of the Company by way of interruption in production, supply chain disruption, unavailability of personnel, closure/lock down of production facilities, retail outlets of dealers etc. However, sales / supply of goods have commenced during the month of May 2020 and partial production commenced in June 2020.
During the FY2021, the Board has approved expansion at its Gailpur (Rajasthan) plant, which would increase production capacity of ceramic tiles from 25.20 MSM p.a to 29.40 MSM p.a. The Board has also considered the folllowing expansions by subsidiaries:i.Kajaria Tiles Pvt Ltd (wholly owned subsidiary), at Chittoor (A.P.) for increasing production capacity of glazed vitrified tiles from 5 MSM p.a. to 8.80 MSM p.a.,ii. Jaxx Vitrified Tiles Pvt Ltd (subsidiary) at Morbi (Gujarat) for increasing production capacity of polished vitrified tiles from 7.60 MSM p.a. to 12 MSM p.a.
The Board of Directors at their meeting held on 21 January 2021 had approved an interim dividend of 10 per share i.e. 1000% of face value of Re 1/- each and the board has decided the interim dividend as aforesaid be considered as final dividend for the financial year 2020-21.
During the year 2021-22, a Scheme of Arrangement between the wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, Kajaria Tiles Private Limited (KTPL) and the Company was approved by the Hon'ble National Company Law Tribunal, Chandigarh Bench (NCLT) dated September 26, 2019, which provides for, inter-alia, the amalgamation of Kajaria Tiles Private Limited [KTPL] (Formerly known as Kajaria Floera Ceramics Private Limited), wholly-owned subsidiary with the Company with the appointed date as 1st April, 2019. The said Scheme was sanctioned by the NCLT's Order and pursuant to the approved Scheme, accordingly, KTPL got amalgamated with the Company,
During the year 2022, the Company introduced a new product VITRONITE' as a replacement to granite slabs used on kitchen tops / table tops. In addition, it launched a new tile size (60x120 cms) double-charged and full body variants. The Company invested in an
additional press at its Malootana facility to increase production capacity in North India markets. It set up a new 60x120 line at Jaxx facility to service the demand of West, Central and South India markets. It launched 300 new products which were showcased in 14 Caravaan shows across 14 cities.
In 2022, the Company commenced operations of 12.4 additional capacity, by commissioning 4.20 MSM of ceramic floor tiles capacity at their Gailpur facility in May, 2022, commissioning of 3.80 MSM of value added glazed vitrified tiles capacity at the Srikalahasti facility in May, 2022 and commissioning of 4.40 MSM of polished vitrified tiles capacity at Jaxx Vitrified plant at Morbi in April, 2022.
In 2022, the Company acquired 51% stake in South Asian Ceramics Pvt. Ltd. Telangana with an annual production capacity of 4.79 MSM of ceramic floor tiles to strengthen the base in South India. It initiated manufacturing Glazed vitrified tiles at part of its Cosa unit in Morbi, which was earlier dedicated for manufacturing polished vitrified tiles.
During the year 2022-23, Kajaria International DMCC and South Asian Ceramic Tiles Private Limited became a wholly-owned
subsidiary and a subsidiary of the Company, respectively. Vennar Ceramics Limited ceased to be a subsidiary of the Company. On 3rd November 2022, a Joint Venture Company (JVC') named Kajaria Ramesh Tiles Limited was incorporated in Nepal.
The Company launched the Italian Collection, a new value-added product range comprising 300 SKUs in multiple sizes in FY 2023. The Ceramic Wall & Floor Tiles Division introduced 80x160 cm Ceramic Floor Tile slabs in multiple compelling variants.