Birla Opus Expected To Generate Rs 10,000 Crore Initial Revenue, Says Kumar Mangalam Birla

Aditya Birla group is targeting an initial revenue of Rs 10,000 crore and profitability within three years of full operations of its new venture of decorative paints business, Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla said on Thursday.

The group on Thursday commenced operations at three plants for its new decorative paints business under Birla Opus.

"Our vision is ambitious and our initial goal is clear, to clock revenues of Rs 10,000 crore and turn profitable not later than the third year of full scale operations," Birla said, while launching the Birla Opus Paints Business and inaugurating three Birla Opus paints plants at Panipat (Haryana), Ludhiana (Punjab) and Cheyyar (Tamil Nadu).

Grasim Industries, the flagship firm of the group, had last year announced its foray into the decorative paints business committing investments of Rs 10,000 crore with plans to set up six manufacturing plants in India by 2025.

The plants, located in Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal, will have a total capacity of 1,332 million litres per annum to serve demand centres across the country.

In September last year the company had unveiled the brand name of its paints business 'Birla Opus'.

The market launch of Birla Opus is scheduled for the fourth quarter of FY24.

This marks the group's entry into the rapidly expanding Rs 80,000 crore Indian decorative paints market.

Birla Opus business is being set up by the group's flagship company Grasim Industries Ltd.

In his address, Birla said India today is teeming with dynamism, audacity, and a penchant for disruption.

"This India finds a reflection in our paints venture, Birla Opus. The Aditya Birla Group's deep insight into the building materials ecosystem, honed over the years, offers us a unique vantage point," he said.

Further, he said Birla Opus, therefore, is poised to transform the paint industry with a 40% addition to current capacity. "No paint company globally has ever launched in one shot -- factories, operations, products, and services, at the scale that we are about to undertake," Birla claimed.

Birla Opus products will be available in Punjab, Haryana, and Tamil Nadu from mid-March 2024 and across all 1 lakh population towns in India by July 2024, he said. The company aims to expeditiously expand its distribution to over 6,000 towns by the fiscal year end.

The three other plants in Karnataka, Maharashtra, and West Bengal will become operational later this year. Chamarajanagar (Karnataka), Mahad (Maharashtra) and Kharagpur (West Bengal) units will commence production over the course of FY25.