Kansai Nerolac to invest Rs 400 cr on capacity expansion

Kansai Nerolac Paints (KNPL) plans to invest Rs 400 crore over the next two years to augment the production capacity of its Hosur plant by 20 per cent. The current capacity of the plant is around 15,000 tonnes. A portion of the funds will be utilised for other projects as well.

KNPL posted a 70 per cent increase in net profit to Rs 1,706.38 crore in FY10 against Rs 1,374.51 crore in the same period last year.  The company's market share in industrial paints and decorative paints stood at 42 per cent and 13 per cent, respectively. Recently, due to an increase in excise duty, coupled with a rise in raw material prices, paint manufacturers across the country had increased prices. KNPL has increased its prices by 4 per cent in May and might increase it by 3 per cent by July.