Jotun Group to strengthen presence in TN

Chennai, Apr 30 (UNI) Having recently launched their first plant in India, Jotun Group, one of the leading paint companies, today announced its plans to set up 35 exclusive paint showrooms in Tamil Nadu -- 'Jotun Multicolor outlets' by the end of 2008.

Talking to newspersons here, company General Manager (Decorative Jotun India) Percy Jijina said ''realising the potential of the Indian paint sector, we have ventured in India. We announced our first manufacturing facility in Pune that will also cater to the Tamil Nadu market.'' ''Tamil Nadu is a key market for us. We already have 12 outlets in the state and plan to open 35 exclusive multicolour outlets by the end of 2008,'' he added.

He said Jotun Group was a pioneer in manufacturing decorative paints, industrial paints, marine coatings.

''In India, the marine coating segment was a largely unexplored market and there is great scope in this sector. The requirements of the sector are increasing in tune with the growth of the shipping industry. In this respect, we already hold a 25 per cent market share in the country,'' he added.

Mr Percy pointed out that the Indian paint industry was growing at 12 per cent per annum and was valued at Rs 80 billion.

The per capita consumption of paints in India was very low at 0.8 kg per annum when compared to four kg in the South-East Asian nationas and 22 kg in developed countries.

UNI SNR SJ 1716