Asian Paints to double Rohtak plant capacity to 4 lakh KL

India's largest paint maker Asian Paints is looking to increase its capacity by 20 percent to 12 lakh kilo litres (KL) per annum by March 2016, which will be mostly powered by a doubling of capacity at its Rohtak facility, said company sources. The sources said the expansion would be driven by capacity enhancement at its Rohtak (Haryana) plant to 4 lakh KL from the existing 2 lakh KL. "The expansion is expected to be completed by March 2016. The capacity of the Rohtak plant would be doubled to 4 lakh KL, from the current 2 lakh KL," the sources told agency. Asian Paints' current paint capacity in India is around 10 lakh KL per annum, with paint manufacturing facilities at Patancheru (Telangana), Kasna (Uttar Pradesh), Khandala (Maharashtra), Rohtak (Haryana), Sriperumbudur (Tamil Nadu) and Ankleshwar (Gujarat). The company is also in the process of scaling up its facility in Telangana by 25 percent to one lakh tonnes per annum.

According to the Expert Appraisal Committee under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, though the company obtained Environmental Clearance (EC) in 2008, it could not expand capacity due to the restrictions imposed by the state government. Asian Paints had earlier signed an MoU with the Andhra Pradesh government to set up a 4 lakh KL paint manufacturing facility at Vishakhapatnam district. An amount of approximately Rs 1,750 crore would be invested by the company in phases over a span of 12 years.

Asian Paints is also in discussions with Karnataka to set up another paint manufacturing facility in Mysuru district. "Both these proposals for setting up manufacturing facilities in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are towards realising long-term capacity requirements and are subject to the demand conditions," sources said. Asian Paints, along with its subsidiaries, have operations in 19 countries across the world, with 26 paint manufacturing plants, servicing consumers in over 65 countries.