IANS

MUMBAI – Grasim Industries has started the trial run for three plants of its paints business – Birla Opus – and is on track to launch the operations in the current quarter.

The Aditya Birla group company announced its foray into this business in 2021 with an investment of Rs 10,000 crore, and intends to be the second largest player in the country over the next few years. It will be launching operations with a capacity to produce 1.33 million litres at its six manufacturing units across the country.

“Supply Chain, Logistics and Distribution network has been set-up to support the launch in current quarter,” the company said on Thursday. The painting service, branded as ‘PaintCraft’, had also completed over 150 sites as on December.

Asian Paints is currently the largest paint-maker in the country, with Berger Paints India, Kansai Nerolac, Indigo Paints, JSW Paints and Akzo Nobel India among the other prominent players.

The Aditya Birla group company also announced its earnings for the December quarter on Thursday, with consolidated net profit at 1,514 crore rupees. While the bottomline is lower as compared to the reported profit last year, it is 48% higher on an adjusted basis.

Grasim’s profit last year included a one-time gain related to acquisition of 9.99% stake by ADIA entities in Aditya Birla Health Insurance.

Its consolidated revenue rose 12% on year 31,965 crore rupees at a consolidated level, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization were 34% higher at 3,834 crore rupees.

The standalone business, which saw a year-on-year decline in the net profit, was impacted by a decline in the realisations of caustic soda, the company said.

Grasim Industries announced its earnings after market hours, and its shares closed at 2,057.30 rupees on the NSE, down 2.6% from the previous close.