Saint Gobain India eyes Rs 20,000 crore annual revenue by 2028

Glass and abrasives maker Saint Gobain said it is on track to achieve Rs 20,000 crore annual revenue in India at the group level by 2028 despite short-term challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company’s revenue for the quarter to March 2021 grew 18% compared to the same period in 2019, according to Santhanam B, chairman and managing director, Saint-Gobain India.

Santhanam expects the current surge in Covid-19 infections in India to make a dent in the business but said that it will only be a short-term blip.

“We are well on track to Rs 20,000 crore revenue by 2028,” he told ET in an interview. The group’s annual revenue in India was Rs 7,600 crore in 2019, he said, but did not disclose the topline for 2020.

Saint Gobain has two listed entities in India, Grindwell Norton and Saint-Gobain Sekurit India, as well as the unlisted arm, Saint Gobain India, which manufactures glass, automotive glass components, glasses for solar panels, refractories, crystals for detectors and gypsum plasterboards and construction chemicals.

The company is betting big on consumer home interior decorations and sees an opportunity in providing integrated solutions.

“We are moving into a lot of adjacencies and moving closer to the consumer. If someone installs a shower enclosure at home, today we supply only the glass but with the digital infrastructure we have, we have the capacity to reach closer and do the entire value chain,” Santhanam said.

The company presently collaborates with LivSpace, HomeLane and Design Cafe in the home interior space and is open to picking up a stake in upcoming companies in this space.

According to Santhanam, there is also a lot of opportunity for the group in India post-pandemic as companies look to re-work their supply chains and look for more domestic sourcing. Grindwell Norton could locally supply several products presently imported by Indian companies, he said, especially refractory material.

The company also exports several products out of India, especially refractories, bullet-proof glass and fire-safety glass with exports accounting for 20% of overall revenue.

Saint Gobain was set up in France in 1665 and was originally a mirror manufacturer.