Asian Paints has left a strong imprimatur across various structures around the world through products used profitably in several real estate, infrastructure and industrial projects across the country’s dust bowl. These include special effects, plain finishes and distempers for interior walls; texture finishes, plain finishes and design for exterior walls; wall papers; wood finishes; metal finishes; painting tools and implements and in recent years waterproofing solutions and adhesives. Praveen Madipati, Head of Specifications, Waterproofing & Construction Chemicals Division, Asian Paints Pvt Ltd offered Shrikant Rao perspective on the company’s growing waterproofing and construction chemicals business on the sidelines of a conference in Mumbai.
Asian paints has been a relatively new player in the waterproofing segment. Give us an understanding of how the company has performed?
It’s been close to five years since we ventured into the waterproofing industry but if you look at the growth of the business it has been phenomenal. In a year or so we expect to be nothing less than the second largest player in the industry in terms of turnover. That is the kind of rapid growth we have been able to bring to the table, especially in the projects business. We have established a very strong organisation structure wherein we have had a very robust field sales and technical team on the ground servicing customers in every nook and corner of the country. Whether it is in tier 1 or tier 2 cities we have a central team with specifications and the applications services which will be supporting and enabling the field force on the ground.
So where does waterproofing figure in Asian Paints’ overall business?
We have two verticals within Asian Paints – one is Project Business and another is Retail Business. As a vertical, project business has been around since 2006 and includes all our products like paints – waterproofing is a relatively recent introduction. All of that adds up to a pretty significant contribution to the overall business coming close to about Rs 1,800 crore. With the inclusion of waterproofing we expect project business to be a big vertical because it requires having specialised teams in place both on and off the ground. That’s why we have a lot of people from the industry joining this vertical. There is a very robust management in place to drive the business.
Could you talk about the landmark projects in which you are participating across India and the business opportunities you are now eyeing?
Infrastructure development, whether it is in the area of airports, metros or tunnels, presents a huge opportunity for us. It has been very heartening for us in terms of winning infrastructure projects like Bangalore International Airport which is itself an iconic development – a new terminal is coming up right next to the existing structure. The project has stakeholders like L&T, Turner and GVK who are the opinion leaders in this particular infrastructure space and the fact that they consider Asian Paints as their preferred waterproofing supplier is definitely a privilege for us. We are working with Afcons in one of the tunnelling projects in Jammu. All of that really reflects confidence and commitment and is indicative of the strength of the products and services we are offering to this industry. Apart from infrastructure space, builders have been our strongest strength. We have been close to major builders like Sobha, Prestige, Brigade, Phoenix and Puravankara. We are also in advanced talks with a lot of other prominent players like Lodha and Hiranandani and I am sure we will make further headway in the builders segment. With so much opportunities now available we are really spreading ourselves beyond the builder segment. We also have a presence in the government segment as well having worked with ONGC which is MRPL in Mangalore, we have done waterproofing for IIT-Dharwad – that’s one of the important landmark projects for us. So our whole objective, the vision what we are really looking forward to, is to become the leader in the segment. Though we were a late entrant in the waterproofing business in terms of our value growth, it has been truly phenomenal. With due respect to other significant market players like Fosroc, BASF, Sika, the kind of turnover they were able to achieve in 25 years, we have been able to achieve in a 3-5 years tenure, especially on the projects side. We are moving forward with rapid speed however, sustaining the momentum is going to be important. Projects call for a specialised approach and there is a lot of long term strategy required to be adopted. Basically this means having more in-house production, in-house R&D which gets breakthrough products for us, and innovation. I haven’t really heard any of the significant players producing polyurethane coatings in-house, the products have been imported so far, but we were able to bring products in-house. It comes with a cost advantage, which we are offering to all our customers.
How is the waterproofing market shaping up right now?
I think there has been a significant shift in the Indian market in the last 10 years in terms of seriousness towards waterproofing which was otherwise looked upon as an added cost. Admittedly, though the market has huge growth opportunities I must say awareness has not reached its peak. Enough work has to be done in terms of building awareness. The good things is with RERA coming a wide spectrum of builders and developers – irrespective of the size of their business – are beginning to show a preference for the right systems. But yes, cost still remains a factor. However with diverse solutions being offered by market players to fit into various economic modes I think an answer has been found. As a serious player in the market we don’t like a segment of builders to be at a disadvantage because of the cost. We want to make sure that no builder in this industry is deprived of a water proofing system. We therefore develop products to suit all kinds of customers so that they not only become affordable but also serve the all-important cause of structural protection.
While on structural protection through the medium of products, what are the concerns you seek to address?
You have various product categories in this industry. The biggest challenge for the designer is which product is to be selected for what. Our approach is to simplify the complexities in terms of the solutions offered. As part of this approach we have been very closely working with the designers, understanding the various codes and trying to integrate our product development and the solutions offered to make it much more customized. Every system has its own limitations and advantages but picking the right system is very important. It has to be a customised solution. Therefore one has to take a very consultative approach: it has to be project specific, site specific, and even space specific. Each basement is different. The customers may be the same but the site is not and the design is very different, so therefore the solution approach has to be different. The market needs to grow in terms of awareness of what is needed. Waterproofing is still not part of the curriculum for civil engineers. That is a core issue which has to be addressed at the academic level so that there can be a major shift in awareness.
Very briefly tell us about your products specifically designed for waterproofing?
I will segment our product offerings into multiple buckets: one is preformed membranes, another is liquid applied coatings; and the last segment is integral concrete protection systems, which is nothing but integral crystalline waterproofing or admixtures. When we have to talk about preformed waterproofing membranes, we do offer HDPE membranes; that is a fully bonded system which is the latest and is the preferred system for underground structures. Also when it comes to the tunnelling part, we offer PVC and other types of membranes. In terms of liquid applied coatings we offer pure polyurethane coatings which are highly elongated and carry a very high tensile strength. Pure polyurethane coatings are largely used in terraces and podiums, landscape and terraces. Then we have acrylic coatings for use in wet areas like bathrooms and toilets, and in some cases, swimming pools and other water bodies. So we are offering multiple waterproofing systems for which there has to be a customized approach when it comes to usage.
Any new products being planned?
Of course we are focused on new products and value innovations particularly in areas such as liquid applied systems. Products beyond a point no more serve as a differentiator. We therefore try to achieve a balance with the right costing. Today there is a gap. At Asian Paints we strongly feel beyond the product, the differentiator lies in the service.
We have been hearing of India woefully falling short of applicators. What is Asian Paints doing as an institution to address the issue of skill development?
We had earlier taken an initiative associated with the National Skill Development Programme under the Indian Government, but that was largely to do with painting. When it comes to waterproofing, we are trying to collaborate with professional bodies like the Indian Concrete Institute and Association of Consulting Civil Engineers. We are using those forums to spread awareness. I must appreciate the initiatives taken by Indian Concrete Institute and Association of Consulting Civil Engineers because we see final engineering and M.Tech students being part of this programme. There is also a student connect programme wherein experts from these institutes are visiting engineering colleges and offering presentations and lectures. I think the responsibility lies with most of the professional bodies as also manufacturers like us to push the agenda to educational institutions of including waterproofing as part of the academic curriculum.
Give us an understanding of your post sales approach?
Once the product hits the ground, it is the applicator who has to apply our products but it has been noticed that he is not in control at times. Since we wanted to really ensure that the applicator does the right job as per specifications we have launched a brand called Smart Assure. What Smart Assure essentially does is to offer the customer peace of mind. What is happening today is that basically once a manufacturer sells a product, his role and involvement in the project in which the solution is applied is largely diminished. Asian Paints wants to ensure that the level of the manufacturer’s involvement is very high in all projects and for that we are engaging our own application engineers on the ground to monitor the progress and the speed of work completion. The idea is for the manufacturer to become the face to the client, not the applicators. The Smart Assure programme ensures that the manufacturer is perceived as being accountable. Secondly, we have offered an online, real-time portal through which all projects can be monitored, feedback about progress or lack of it can be received and problems sorted out. All the stakeholders can monitor the accuracy of our audit reports. The response limit of 24 to 48 hours that we have set under this programme contributes to transparency and accountability. That is the difference we are looking to bring to the market at this point of time. In terms of our philosophy of our products protecting the structures on which they are used, we are running a program called Landmark Model Service (LMS) where similar kind of services are being offered on the paints side. In the case of societies, when a building comes up for re-painting every 5 or 10 years, the builder’s responsibility is limited. We offer a paint service to ensure that the tenant or the owner of the building is well informed and services are guaranteed to give them peace of mind. A helpline number has been introduced for the customers to get in touch with the company.
Going forward how do you see Asian Paints waterproofing business moving?
I terms of strategy we will be looking to scale up. For a long time we were focused largely on the real estate market, but we are now looking to diversify into areas of infrastructure development like airports and metros, factory buildings, nuclear power plants and factories. While retaining our hold with builders and developers, we also want to be present in most of the segments of the construction industry as India moves forward.