War Paint

Birla Opus Paints' big-bang entry has already started hurting the incumbents. Analysts warn that smaller players may be impacted the most.

- ARNAB DUTTA

BIRLA OPUS PAINTS, one of the newest ventures from the stable of billionaire businessman Kumar Mangalam Birla, appears to have made an instant impact. The paint brand, which was launched in early 2024, is now fighting with well-established players like Asian Paints and Berger Paints.

The decorative paints company is housed under the ₹1.31 lakh crore Grasim Industries, a global producer of cellulosic fibres, diversified chemicals, fashion yarn, and fabrics.

The new entrant has demonstrated high levels of aggression, and with the commencement of production at its fourth plant (in Karnataka's Chamarajnagar), it claims to be the second largest in the decorative paints segment in terms of capacity, pegged at 866 million litres per annum (MLPA).

The other plants are located in Ludhiana (Punjab), Panipat (Haryana), and Cheyyar (Tamil Nadu).

"We are focussed on accelerating our growth trajectory with a strategic approach to capital expenditure, capacity expansion, and market penetration. We are poised for significant scaling over the next few years," Rakshit Hargave, CEO of Birla Opus Paints, tells BT. The company has set itself an ambitious target of reaching