Berger Paints India Limited is an Indian paint company which operates chiefly in India headquartered in Kolkata, India.

It has come a long way since its inception in the year 1923. Indias second largest decorative paint player, Berger Paints is headquartered in Kolkata and services the market through a distribution network of 82 stock points and 12,000+ paint retailers.

One can trace the history of Berger Paints to the 18th century. In 1770, Louis Steigenberger moved from Frankfurt to London to sell a Prussian blue colour, which was made using his own formula. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger and by 1870 Berger was selling 19 different pigments, including black lead, sulphur, sealing wax and mustard. After the demise of Lewis Berger his sons took over the business. SherwinWilliams, an American company bought control of the company in the 1900s. By the 1940s Mr. Hadfield; set up Hadfield's (India) Ltd a small paint company in Calcutta on 17 December 1923. Towards the end of 1947 British Paints acquired Hadfield's (India) Ltd and thus British Paints (India) Ltd was incorporated in the State of West Bengal. In 1951, sales offices were opened in Delhi and Mumbai and a depot was started in Guwahati. This resulted in sales rising to Rs.6 million in 1952. In 1969 Berger, Jenson Nicholson Limited, UK bought the British Paints (India) Ltd. This marked the beginning of Lewis Bergers legacy in India - which the company would later take forward to enviable heights. Mr. D. Madhukar took over as the Managing Director in the year 1973. Under him the company became the fastest growing company in the paint industry as sales figures reached over Rs. 160 million by 1978. The 80s and the 90s saw the launch of many new products such as emulsions and distempers. The COLOR BANK tinting system was launched through which the consumer can select from a range of over 5000 colors. Mr. Subir Bose has been the Managing Director since 1994, under whom Berger's team currently runs.

Company Profile

Berger Paints India Ltd is the third largest paint manufacturer and the second largest decorative paint player in India. They are offering their customers a variety of innovative painting solutions, decorative or industrial. The company is headquartered in Calcutta and service the market through a distribution network comprising of 75 stock points and above 12,000 paint retailers. They are having their manufacturing facilities in West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Pondicherry, Goa, and Jammu & Kashmir. The Company has Technical License Agreements with DuPont Performance Coatings in the area of automotive coatings, Nippon Paint Co Ltd for new generation of automotive coatings, Orica Australia Pty Ltd In the area of protective coatings, TIGERWERK Lack-u.Farbenfabrik GmbH & C. KG, Austria for specialized powder coatings and Nippon Bee Chemical Co Ltd for coating on plastic auto parts and mobile phones. The company was incorporated on December 17, 1923 as Hadfield's (India) Ltd in Kolkata. In December 12, 1947, British Paints Holdings acquired the company and the name was changed into British Paints India Ltd. In the year 1965, British Paints (Holdings) Limited, UK was acquired by Celanese Corporation, USA. As a result, the controlling interest of the Company passed on to CELEURO NV, Holland. In the year 1969, Celanese Corporation sold their interest in the Indian company to Berger, Jenson Nicholson Limited, UK. In December 1983, the company name was changed to Berger Paints India Ltd. From 1983 till date, the company has solely used and developed the name and trademark of Berger and all their other variants in India. The company launched Color Bank tinting system through which the consumer can select form a range of over 5000 colors and which are then made available in minutes. In the year 1997, a new paint manufacturing unit at Pondicherry was commissioned. In the year 1999, Rajdoot Paints Ltd was merged with the company. In the year 2000, the company acquired 100% share in Jenson & Nicholoson Nepal Pvt Ltd which was wholly owned subsidiary of Jenson & Nicholson India Ltd and renamed Berger Jenson & Nicholson, Nepal. During the year 2001-02, the Motors & Industrial paints business of ICI India was acquired through their subsidiary, Berger Auto & Industrial Coatings Limited. During the year 2003-04, a new unit in Jammu started commercial production. Also, the company entered into a joint venture with Principal Financial Group USA, Punjab National Bank and Vijaya Bank for Pension Fund and Insurance Business. Berger Auto & Industrial Coatings Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary company amalgamated with the company with effect from April 1, 2004 and operates as BAICL Division of the company. The company invested in Berger Cyprus, a company incorporated in Cyprus on February 3, 2005 for the purpose of setting up a paint manufacturing facility in Russia. During the year 2005-06, the company started the commercial production at their new 2400 MTPA powder coating plant in Jammu. In April 2007, the Jammu Resin plant of the Company with a capacity of 9,000 MTPA have commenced their production. The Company has entered into a Joint Venture Agreement with Nippon Bee Chemical Co Ltd, Japan for the purpose of formation of a company for manufacture and sale of coatings for plastic substrates used in automobiles and parts thereof in India. Berger Paints Overseas Ltd in Russia has commenced commercial production in September 2007 at their modern plant in the Republic of Adygeya, with alkyd based and water based paints. The company expanded the capacity in the Goa

solvent based paint to 18000 KL per annum. The company is in the process of setting up an automobile paint manufacturing plant with a combined capacity of 24000 MTPA at Jejuri Industrial Estate in Pune. The Company has started preliminary work for expansion of water based paint and resin manufacturing capacity in their existing plant at Rishra in West Bengal and installation of a resin manufacturing plant in Goa. In August 2008, the company acquired Bolix SA (Bolix), a leading provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in Poland, from Advent International, a global private equity group.