JSW Dulux to repopularise Dulux brand acquired from Akzo Nobel, steel network for growth
Mumbai: JSW Dulux plans to re-popularize the Dulux paint brand it acquired from Akzo Nobel India and leverage the group’s steel business to drive growth and achieve its goal of becoming one of India’s top paint companies.
“Today, we are the fourth largest player in decorative paints; we want to break into the top three and then top two,” JSW Dulux chairman Parth Jindal told shareholders at the company’s 72nd annual general meeting on Friday. For industrial coatings, “anything short of being the number one player is unacceptable,” he added.
The company will push It uses the Dulux brand in the decorative paint segment and leverages JSW Group’s presence in the steel industry to expand its industrial coating segment.
“One is the decorative side of the business, which we will now popularize again and put a significant part of our efforts into the Dulux brand,” he said. Jindal. “Vijayanagar steel plant is the largest steel plant in the world and the importance of this is that 70% of industrial coatings are applied on steel surfaces and JSW Steel being a leading steel player gives us a huge advantage when we approach customers who require industrial coatings.”
JSW Group, which also has interests in energy, cement and infrastructure, is looking to strengthen its presence in the paint business after officially completing its acquisition of majority stake in Akzo Nobel India and renaming the company as JSW Dulux. The General Assembly meeting was marked by discussions around the company’s growth strategy under new ownership.
The AGM was the first meeting in which Jindal served as chairman since the acquisition of Akzo Nobel India.
Shareholders have repeatedly described Jindal, 36, as the company’s “young chairman” and expressed confidence that a younger leadership team would accelerate growth. Jindal completed his MBA from Harvard Business School in 2016.
Shareholder questions
Shareholders sought clarity on how JSW Dulux plans to compete with Asian Paints and Birla Opus, invest in research and development, deploy artificial intelligence and use cash reserves for expansion.
The future of the company’s registered office in Kolkata has emerged as a recurring theme, with shareholders demanding that it remain in the city, citing its long association with the company and the importance of Eastern India to its business. JSW Dulux has shifted its corporate office from Gurugram to Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, effective April 1 this year.
“So Kolkata and Bengal will continue to be one of the states with high market share and one of the areas to invest,” JSW Dulux joint managing director and CEO Rajiv Rajgopal said at the general assembly.
Responding to questions, Rajgopal said JSW Dulux will leverage the wider industrial relationships of the JSW Group while investing in digital platforms, AI-enabled manufacturing and customer services. He added that the company will continue to acquire Akzo Nobel’s global technology, patents and research under a licensing agreement.
Rajgopal said the president recently visited one of the paint company’s facilities and gave them an idea on how they can leverage JSW Energy’s network to achieve sustainable electricity supply and reduce power consumption and costs. JSW Energy has thermal, hydro, wind and solar power plants with a total operating capacity of 13,454 MW.
Jindal said FY26 following the acquisition was a transition year, but added that the integration of Akzo Nobel’s technology with JSW’s business network will position the company for the next phase of growth.
JSW Paints has acquired the majority stake in Akzo Nobel India from its Dutch parent company Akzo Nobel NV and its subsidiary in a deal worth almost TL 200 million. ₹9,000 crore about a year ago. This acquisition brought well-established brands such as Dulux and Sikkens under the JSW umbrella.
