Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited (KNPL), erstwhile Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd, is one of India's largest Coatings companies with leadership in industrial coatings. Kansai Paint Co., Ltd., Japan (KPJ) is immediate and ultimate holding company of Kansai Nerolac Paints Limited. The Company manufactures a diversified range of products ranging from decorative paints coatings for homes, offices, hospitals and hotels to sophisticated industrial coatings for most of the industries.
The Company has 8 factories located at Jainpur (UP), Lote (Maharashtra), Bawal (Haryana), Hosur (Tamil Nadu), Goindwal Sahib, (Punjab), Kakoda, (Goa), Sarigam, (Gujarat) and Sayakha (Gujarat). It has a state-of-the-art R&D facility in Mumbai. The Company has subsidiary operations in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh through acquisitions and joint ventures with Kansai Nepal and Capital Holdings Maharaja Group respectively.
The Company is an acknowledged leader in Automotive Coating and Powder Coatings and has a sizeable presence in General Industrial and High Performance coatings as well. In the Decorative segment, KNPL is a leading player and is amongst the top 3 players in the country. It has steadily grown its presence in new and niche segments that the Company entered, such as High-End Wood finish, Construction chemicals, Auto Refinish, and Coil coatings, which have helped the Company to expand its portfolio of products and offerings in the market.
The Company was established on 2nd September, 1920 as Gahagan Paints and Varnish Co. Ltd. at Lower Parel in Bombay. In 1930, 3 British companies merged to formulate Lead Industries Group Ltd. In 1933, Lead Industries Group Ltd. acquired entire share capital of Gahagan Paints in 1933 and thus, Goodlass Wall (India) Ltd. was born.
Subsequently, by 1946, Goodlass Wall (India) Ltd. was known as Goodlass Wall Pvt. Ltd. In 1957, Goodlass Wall Pvt. Ltd. grew popular as Goodlass Nerolac Paints (Pvt.) Ltd. Also, it went public in the same year and established itself as Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd. It came into the fold of Tata Forbes Group in 1976, as its foreign holdings were acquired by Forbes Gokak. It turned into Joint Venture company in 1986 as the foreign colloborator Japan based Kansai Paints picking 36% of equity capital of the company. With the acquisition of entire stake of Forbes Gokak and its associates by Kansai Paints it became the subsidiary of the latter in 1999.Technical Assistance Agreements of the company with renowned players in paint industry at international level puts the company in a strong position to offer products which meets stringent international specifications. It started in 1993 when the company tied-up with Kansai Paints of Japan (for manufacture of Sophisticated architectural Coatings) and Nihon Tokushu Torya Co. Ltd also of Japan (for body seal and under seal coatings). And the latest being the technical assistance agreement with Dupont Performance Coatings GmbH & Co. KG, Germany for know-how of manufacture of Anodic Electro-deposition Coatings System during the year 2000-01. The company's other Technical Assistance agreements include E.I. Dupont De Nemours & Co. Inc. of USA for automotive coatings; Oshima Kogyo Company Ltd., of Japan for heat resistant paints; Valspar Corporation of US for powder coatings; Drew Chemicals Corporation of US for water and fuel treatment chemicals and Ameron Inc. USA for high performance coatings.
The company had two wholly owned subsidiaries namely Saurashtra Paints and and GNP (Madras). The above subsidiary companies were amalgamated with the company from April 2002 with consent approval from both the states' High courts.
During 2001-02, the company has entered into a technical agreement with EFTEC Shroff (India) Ltd. for the manufacture and supply of Automotive Paint Shop Sealers and Underbody Compounds. During 2003-04, the capacity at the Jainpur was increased by 24% for water based paints, by setting a new facility.
During 2004-05 the company has setup a new greenfield plant, with a capacity of 20400 MT, at Bawal, district Rewari of Haryana and this was commissioned on 19th March 2005.
Consequent to the approval of the High Court of Madras and Bombay the amalagmation of Chemguard Coatings Ltd with the company was completed on 1st September 2005.
During 2005-2006, the company made an investment in a Malaysian Company, a joint venture company between the company and Kansai Paint Co Ltd., Japan (Kansai), where the company will hold 55% stake and 45% Stake by Kansai. Further the Malaysian company has entered into an agreement to acquire the paint business of Sime Coatings Sdn.Bhd., Malaysian and this is subject to approval.
During the same period the companies Production capacity of Paints Varnishes and enamels has increased from 138400 MT to 153900 MT. The capacity of Synthetic Resins stood at 36250 MT and Capacity of Pretreatment Chemicals stood at 2400 MT.
In 2006, the name of the company was changed from Goodlass Nerolac Paints Ltd.(GNPL) to Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd.
During the financial year ended 31 March 2013, Kansai Nerolac Paints acquired 8,84,000 equity shares constituting 68% of the paid up equity share capital of Nepal Shalimar Paints Pvt. Ltd., Nepal, amounting to Rs 7.86 crore.
The Board of Directors of Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. at its meeting held on 31 January 2017 approved the setting up of a paint manufacturing unit at Achutapuram, Visakhapatnam District in Andhra Pradesh having capacity of 60,000 KL per year, which is expandable in phases, at an estimated cost of Rs 304 crore.
Kansai Nerolac Paints' subsidiary in Srilanka, Kansai Paints Lanka Pvt. Ltd. commenced its operations on 26 April 2017. Kansai Nerolac Paints entered Sri Lankan paint market by way of a joint venture with Capital Holdings Maharaja, which is one of the biggest conglomerates in Sri Lanka.On 18 January 2018, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. announced that the planned capacity expansion of the proposed manufacturing unit at Goindwal Sahib near Amritsar in Punjab, has been revised to 52800 KL per year from 36000 KL (i.e. 38000 MT). The budgeted cost of the project has also increased from Rs 180.50 crore to Rs 216.50 crore.
On 4 April 2018, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. informed the stock exchange that it has entered into Share Purchase Agreements (SPAs) to acquire 100% equity stake in Marpol Private Limited (Marpol). Marpol Private Limited, established in the year 1983 is a pioneer in powder coating business and is a reputed brand. Kansai Nerolac is a leader in the Powder coating market in India. The acquisition of Marpol will further add to the leadership of Kansai Nerolac in the power coasting market in India.
On 13 June 2018, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. announced that the company's new manufacturing unit at Sayakha Industrial Estate in Gujarat has commenced commercial production for sale.
On 17 July 2018, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. announced that it has completed the acquisition of 55% equity share holding of RAK Paints Ltd., Bangladesh for a total consideration of Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 50.41 crores (Rs 41.49 crore). Earlier, the company had on 19 June 2018 signed Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 55% of the paid-up equity share capital of RAK Paints Ltd., Bangladesh as on the Closing Date i.e. the day on which the transaction would be consummated for a total consideration of Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 57.26 crore (approximately Rs 45.81 crore), subject to adjustments for borrowings, working capital and fixed assets as at the Closing Date.
RAK Paints Limited is one of the established paint companies in Bangladesh having a diverse product range encompassing decorative paints (includes water based, solvent based, primers and cement paints) and industrial paints (includes marine, primer and epoxy). With this investment in RAK Paints Limited Bangladesh, Kansai Nerolac aims to increase its foot print in the SAARC countries. RAK Paints Limited clocked turnover (net) of BDT 102.43 crore (approximately equivalent to Rs 81.94 crore) for the financial year ended 30 June 2017.
The Company spent around Rs 7.51 crore capital expenditure on EHS requirements at existing plants. It includes upgradation of assets for environmental monitoring, effluent treatment, water conservation, energy efficiency, emergency preparedness and safety equipment upgradation. There had been Rs 2.78 crore of revenue expenditure on EHS requirements at the existing plants. Apart from this, the Company has invested Rs 10.66 crore of capital expenditure in its to be commissioned plant at Sayakha.
In April 2018, the Company acquired 100% equity shareholding in Marpol Private Limited, Goa ('Marpol'), one of the leading companies in powder coating business, for an aggregate consideration of Rs 34.12 Crore.
In July 2018, the Company acquired 55% equity shareholding in RAK Paints Limited, Bangladesh ('RAK'), for an aggregate consideration of Rs 42.17 Crore (BDT 50.41 Crore).
Also in April 2019, the Company acquired 100% equity shareholding in Perma Construction Aids Private Limited ('Perma'), which manufactures and sells construction chemicals, for an aggregate consideration of Rs 29.10 Crore.
The Board, at its meeting held on 2nd May, 2019, accorded its in-principle approval to the merger of Marpol and Perma, both wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Company, with the Company, subject to necessary statutory approvals from various regulatory authorities.
For Adhesives, Company signed a Joint Venture (JV) with Polygel to form an entity Nerofix with Polygel and for construction chemicals it acquired Perma Construction Aid Pvt. Ltd. During year 2019, the Nerolac range of product was launched for construction chemicals. In addition, KNPL tied up with ICRO Italy, a leader in high end wood coatings and launched Nerolac ICRO. It invested Rs. 12 crore and acquired 60% stake in Nerofix and accordingly, Nerofix started operations in December, 2019.
During the FY2020, the Company spent Rs 217 crore towards capital expenditure related to various projects of capex requirement.
During the FY2021,the Company spent Rs 147 Crore towards capital expenditure related to various projects.
In year 2021, For High-end Wood Coatings, Company had inked an agreement with the Italian company ICRO Coatings. It launched India's first anti-viral paint, Nerolac Excel Virus Guard, with Japanese Shiqui technology. The product has excellent antiviral properties and efficacy against different viruses. It introduced Nerolac Excel Multi-Surface Protection Sheets providing anti-viral and anti-bacterial protection for highly-used surfaces. It introduced Suraksha Dust Resist and Beauty Gold - washable and anti-bacteria. In Construction Chemicals, the Company strengthened its product range through the introduction of products such as Damp Protect, Magic Boost, Perma Super 2K and Waterproof Latex.
In March 2022, the Company launched its new brand expression 'PAINT+' as part of its offering to consumers. It introduced 'Excel
Mica Marble Stretch & Sheen', a product that offers a 6-year waterproofing warranty at a compelling price point and solves a very pertinent problem of cracks on exterior walls. For Adhesives, the company Nerofix set up in JV with Polygel undertook many initiatives around strengthening and augmenting its product range, securing various OEM approvals, developing connect with carpenters and
strengthening distribution. It expanded the portfolio in pipe coatings through launching products for Water Pipeline Internal coatings, which has been certified by Water Regulations Approval Scheme Ltd, UK.
In year 2022, Marpol Private Limited and Perma Construction Aids Private Limited (previously Indian subsidiaries of KNPL) merged with the Company and accordingly, manufacturing footprint includes 8 plants across different parts of India. Also, new emulsion manufacturing facility was commissioned at Goindwal Sahib plant, Punjab and new resin manufacturing facility commissioned at Sayakha plant.
On 31st March, 2023, KNPL acquired the remaining 40% of the total shareholding of its Promoters, Polygel Industries Private Limited and Nerofix Private Limited. The said shares were transferred to the Company and consequent to the said acquisition of shares, Nerofix became a wholly owned (100%) subsidiary of the Company.
During 2023, In Decorative business, the Company launched products with the Paint+ promise. Nerolac Impressions Kashmir and Nerolac Excel Everlast 12 were some unique products launched. In Construction chemicals category, it launched Damp Lock and
NoDamp+ which provides unique properties of waterproofing, durability and protection. In the Industrial Business, it introduced Value-adding technologies like low bake technology, high solids low VOC, Monocoats, Direct to Metal. It introduced breakthrough products like Tin free CED in Auto, High resistance coating for fuel tanks for 2 Wheelers, Fluro Undercoat & Flouro Topcoat (5 coat system) for performance coating and High Abrasion resistance powder for powder coating. In Decorative business, it got into the tile adhesive
and customised admixture category; in Industrial business, it got into new segments such as seam sealer, underbody blacks, alloy wheels, and the fasteners coatings segment. It installed CCD machines to expand its presence in the market, particularly in rural areas. In the financial year, it established a network of 31,000+ dealers.