With the launch of its India’s 1st CPVC antimicrobial pipes, Welspun World’s acquired Sintex is highlighting the health aspect in the water story. The company, which is currently going pretty aggressive, plans to grab five percent market share in the next seven years and has already announced an investment of INR 2,355 crore. Mr. Yashovardhan Agarwal, Managing Director, Welspun BAPL, & Director, Sintex, revealed that they also aim to enter the specialized water treatment segment soon.
Tube & Pipe India: Kindly walk us through the Welspun World and its Group companies.
Yashovardhan Agarwal: Welspun World is a USD 5 billion global conglomerate with a robust presence in 50+ nations having a dedicated and determined team of 30,000+ employees. We have four major entities – Welspun Living, Welspun Corp, Welspun Enterprise and Welspun One.
Welspun Living Limited, a USD 1.5 billion company, is one of the largest home textile manufacturers globally. Welspun Corp is also a USD 1.5 billion company, which manufactures large dia pipes for the oil and gas industry. Welspun Enterprise is one of India’s fastest growing infrastructure developers, with a diversified portfolio of projects in road infrastructure and water management. Welspun Entreprises commenced the Dharavi waste water treatment project which is one of the largest Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) projects in Asia. All three of these companies are listed companies. Welspun One is an integrated fund, development and asset management organization; designed to deliver large format institutional, Grade-A logistics parks across India. It is the only industrial warehousing platform backed by a global conglomerate.
Welspun World is one of the fastest growing global conglomerates. It is a technologically-advanced business house and amongst the first companies in the industry to use indigenously developed bots- a revolutionary AI-driven recruitment process, enhancing the interview experience by eliminating human biases, freeing up time, and delivering scientific, data driven results. At Sintex, we have been using AI bots to communicate with our retailers and distributors for the past one year. Today if you want to place an order on Amazon, you have to make five clicks. We are currently working to reduce the number of clicks while ordering a Sintex tank and make it easier for the distributors.
TPI: Kindly tell us about your acquisition of Sintex.
YA: When Welspun decided to get into the water industry with large STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants), it thought of a trustworthy brand that people recognized and commanded a premium. Sintex was a perfect match for us.
It is a 50-year-old iconic and credible brand, which is well recognised by people across the country. People know the Sintex logo by heart. The company is also known for its innovations in WPC boards, electrical composite boxes and water tanks. The brand is well recognised and enjoys good brand equity across India. Even when it was under the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for three years, the management never compromised on the quality of its products. Five years ago, when all companies worked on credit, Sintex became the first building materials company to collect 100 percent in advance. During its time under NCLT, it was still cash positive company, registering net profit on a year-on-year basis. That is the power of the brand -Sintex.
Welspun Corp acquired Sintex in March 2023. Welspun and Sintex together are a strong brand. Wespun has a mindset and clarity of how to grow businesses. We are very bullish on business prospects and our growth. Today, Sintex is a leading manufacturer of a diverse range of plastic products in India, providing liquid storage solutions to billions for the last five decades, with a strong commitment to innovation and sustainability. The company’s varying portfolio includes water tanks, commercial water storage, uPVC doors and decorative panels, community water storage, pipes, electrical products and environmental solutions. Sintex is dedicated to improving the lives of its customers by providing high-quality, reliable products that make a positive impact on the environment.
In large cities, the government can take care of water problems with the help of communities and localities. But in smaller tier 3 cities, more individual players are involved. People living in tier 3 cities prefer the brand Sintex.
TPI: How do you plan to extend your business after acquiring Sintex?
YA: India has 4 percent fresh water right now and 18 percent of the world’s population. In large cities, the government can take care of water problems with the help of communities and localities. But in smaller tier 3 cities, more individual players are involved. People living in tier 3 cities prefer the brand Sintex. We want to capitalise on this strong brand equity. We want to be part of the whole water journey. From the time water comes to your house till it leaves, the whole process of transportation, harvesting, storage, we want to come full circle with it.
As part of the Welspun World, we have access to some of the best technologies, such as SmartOps and Veolia. We are focusing on using these technologies to make the STP structures more modular. On the other side, we are already into rainwater harvesting through biotanks. We’re working on developing this business with a clear vision. We want to make every home water positive.
TPI: You recently launched CPVC antimicrobial pipes. Please tell us about it.
YA: For the fundamental growth of any business, it’s important to keep innovating, otherwise it becomes a commodity. That is why we continue innovation in all our businesses. This year, we launched our much-anticipated CPVC pipes with antimicrobial properties, which will gain traction and achieve market share. Our R&D team worked tirelessly and developed a compound, that took a while to create, but the end pipes have turned out really well. This will be India’s 1st antimicrobial CPVC pipes.
We are also bringing the health aspect to the water story. CPVC antimicrobial pipes ensure that the water you store in your house, along with the pipe used to transport it, are clean and hygienic.
Our products will come with Sintex NXT Advantage, offering built-in protection with antifungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial and antiviral properties ,ensuring hygiene and safety. We want to empower the end user, so that a customer knows exactly what he is buying. For example, HotX implies that the pipe is for hot water.
TPI: The industry has witnessed many mergers and acquisitions in recent times. How do you see this affecting market growth?
YA: Around 60 percent of the pipe market is unorganized right now and consolidation is bound to happen. We don’t see that as a worry, in fact, we see this as an opportunity. Two years back, companies were highly priced. The P/E ratios were going absurd, which was not a sustainable trend. Now that P/E ratios are getting corrected, acquisitions are taking place. We’re open to acquisitions, provided it fits our mindset. As a brand, we are very strong. We need to see what the prevailing market conditions bring to us. At the end of the day, we don’t want to buy a 20-year-old asset with a 20-year-old machine.
‘Welspun Enterprises Limited (WEL) is collaborating with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to build a 2,000 million litres per day water treatment plant at Bhandup Complex in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
TPI: What effect will the US-China steel tariff war have on the Indian plastic industry?
YA: The industry expects that the anti-dumping duties imposed by the Government will play a strong and positive role in raw material pricing. We are not going into any hypothetical situation, but we know it will happen as we have evaluated all permutations and combinations. We are not much worried about it. If you look at the journey of the Indian plastic industry for the last 40-50 years, wherever plastic has met any metal, it has always won. Whether it is GI pipes, or steel pipes, plastic has always emerged victorious.
TPI: Kindly tell us about your market footprint.
YA: Welspun World, as a whole, is going aggressive on expansions. Welspun Corp Limited recently incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary, Welspun Europe S.A. in Spain. Besides, it is setting up a state-of-the-art Longitudinal Submerged Arc Welded (LSAW) line pipe manufacturing facility in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia having an annual production capacity of 350,000 MT.
Talking about Sintex, we have less than 5 percent of our sales as exports. Our priority right now is India. We see India as the next big story. Since the world is looking at India for investment, we, as Indians, should be the first to gain from it. We are also creating SPACES as a brand to market in India. Spaces by Welspun is a premium bed and bath essential crafted for everyday luxury.
Also Read: Prince Pipes and Fittings Eyes East Indian Markets With 48,000 MT Facility in Bihar
TPI: Please tell us more about your upcoming projects.
YA: Welspun Enterprises Limited (WEL) is collaborating with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai to build a 2,000 million litres per day water treatment plant at Bhandup Complex in Mumbai, Maharashtra. For this project, WEL is collaborating with French water technology firm Veolia, which is one of the largest global technology companies specialising in the water sector. That’s our trademark. We only collaborate with the best.
Apart from this, WEL is executing a 418 MLD waste water treatment facility project at Dharavi, Mumbai, which will be India’s first and the world’s second multi-storeyed waste water treatment plant.
TPI: Please tell us about your future plans, including your upcoming/new facilities.
YA: All Welspun World companies are leading in their respective businesses with innovation being the core value. Following the same values Sintex has begun work on four new plants out of which is already operational. Recently, we acquired Weetek Plastics Private Limited in Raipur for about INR 75 crore. It fitted our technical requirements and ideology.
We recently invested INR 250 crore in Bhopal, which will have the full range of pipes. This is our first greenfield plant and we’re using it as a prototype. The moment we know our material is ready, we’ll be five times more aggressive. We have already allotted INR 2,355 crore for the first four years and will see how to proceed after that. We are going very aggressive and plan to grab five percent market share in the next 7 years. After the launch of CPVC antimicrobial pipes, our next diversification story will be about getting into more specialized treatment of water.
Our priority right now is India. We see India as the next big story.
