Saint-Gobain India has been growing at 20 per cent per annum in the past two decades. Speaking on Bloomberg TV recently, Saint Gobain India head Anand Mahajan said the company, which has a turnover of Rs 5,000 crore now, would ideally like to double sales every five years.
“Today we are about Rs 5,100-crore group in India and we have grown in this period at a rate at 20 per cent per annum. We are a profitable, multi-business group in India and we see significant opportunities for growth. India is one of the top destinations for investment for Saint-Gobain. We will be significantly expanding our glass facilities here in India. In fact in Tamil Nadu we are setting up our 5th float glass line in India. We are setting up the facility in second coater or high value added glass. Therefore, it’s a significant investment,” he said.
We have several global businesses and a number of them are present in India. He says the company will continue to focus on growth opportunities. India has not grown as much as we had expected even for us a year ago. However he said it’s not holding the company back, in terms of investments and that “Rs 10,000 crore is directional we would like to happen.”
“I think in India, all our businesses have the potential to grow. I don’t think we have any laggards. So we have flat glass, plaster board, we have our industrial business—automotive glass and abrasive factories. All our businesses have plenty of scope to grow subject to the economy growing. We have good strong market position and in certain areas we are penetrating and developing the market and all that is going extremely well. We are very happy with our progress in India.”