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After the success of its first manufacturing facility in the country, opened in 2011, the Danish-based Hempel Paints has inaugurated a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Nashik on 4 September 2014.

Pierre-Yves Jullien, President and CEO, Hempel Group comments, "India is one of the fastest growing coatings markets in the world and we expect further growth in the future. We will invest an additional ?2 million in a second phase capacity expansion at the Nashik site, which will help meet our companys and customers needs in the entire South Asia region by further strengthening our manufacturing capabilities and boosting our ability to serve existing and new customers."

"With the opening of this new plant, we aim to increase our product assortment and provide a mix of standard and specialised products for the local market. We want to build a stronger presence in South Asia and to be part of the exciting growth that is taking place in the region," says Umesh Singh, Group Vice President - South Asia, Hempel. According him, Hempel has seen increased growth in India over the last few years, particularly in certain segments such as the oil and gas, wind turbine, pipes and OEM sectors. Singh says, "The increasing trend to use high-end coatings in these industries has helped Hempel to make further inroads in Indian market. The new plant will help us meet the growing demand for our coatings and will cut down lead times. Our new regional R&D facility, which is Hempels 11th such facility around the globe, will also help Hempel India further consolidate its market position."

On the current market situation, Jullien says, "We are optimistic of Indian market. This investment is the result of the success we achieved in the Indian market." He further adds, "Demand from infrastructure sector varies from region to region. European market is not doing good currently, but the Russian market is promising and that is why we started a new plant there."

On the demand from various segments, Singh observes, "In the last three years, segments like oil and gas, wind power and pipelines have grown. Infrastructure sector is a promising area for us but a lot needs to be done. Once the infrastructure sector improves, it will bring in more investments in different segments of infrastructure. Since manufacturing sector is now showing some improvement, OEMs are also expected to do well. We offer a range of products to protect the infrastructure assets in corrosive environments. Since the construction activities have been low in the last couple of years, there was a slowdown in demand for construction equipment. But since the market is slowly improving and the new government at the Centre has major plans on infrastructure development, we are quite optimistic of the demand for coating in construction and materials handling equipment segments." Hempel plans to invest significantly in the plant over the next three years. The plant is designed for future capacity expansion and will supply marine and protective coatings to the entire region.

GREEN BITES

• The ?3 million facility is spread over two acre
• Designed for future capacity expansion
• Production capacity of approx 10 million litre per year
• Designed for maximum productivity, equipped with maximum safety
• Plant has zero discharge, an automatic liquid dosing system and bar code system
• Equipped with R&D laboratory to cater to specific customer requirements