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India’s Growth Picture Is As Clear As Glass For Saint Gobain
Saint Gobain, the French maker of plasterboard and glass, is betting big on the Indian market and is aiming to triple revenues in the next ten years to ₹20,000 crore, its chairman said. “India is one of the fastest growing countries for Saint Gobain. India is the number one country for us — even more than China,” Pierre-Andre De Chalendar, chairman of the Saint-Gobain Group, told ET in an interview recently.
About €130 million, or 10% of Saint Gobain’s investment capex, find their way into India that contributes only 2% of its sales. The share of India in total manufacturing is around 4%, he added. The last three years have seen the French company plough back all the profits it made in India to grow its business here.
Chalendar is encouraged by the proactive reforms undertaken by the Indian government.
“There has been a progressive reduction in bureaucracy. The tax reforms of last summer have been good. So, I am positive about the economic climate in India. It’s improving and I am confident that it will continue to improve.”
Saint Gobain was set up in France in 1665, and made glass for the French King Louis XIV. It is present in India through three entities.
