Berger Paints India Ltd
Encyclopedia
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. India’s 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.
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 pigment
s, including black lead, sulphur, sealing wax
and mustard
.
After the demise of Lewis Berger his sons took over the business. Sherwin-Williams, 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 Berger’s 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 emulsion
s 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.
, with a production facility at the Berger manufacturing unit at Krasnodar
, Berger has also expanded its footprint in Nepal
by setting up a second unit. Today Berger’s sister company in Bangladesh
is the dominant leader with over 65% market share. In keeping with the Company’s dynamic growth plan, Berger has also acquired Bolix SA of Poland
, a leading provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in Eastern Europe
. As Berger continues to grow internationally it also continues to be the second largest paint company in India.
Berger is the lone supplier to Nuclear Power Plants
with its protective coatings. The automotive sector, be it cars or bikes, is primarily ruled by Berger’s automotive coatings. Luxury cars including Mercedes
make use of Berger’s products. Companies like Nokia
use Berger’s services as well. Berger has tied up with Becker of Sweden to manufacture coil coatings for steel surfaces.
Kolkata
Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...
, India. It has come a long way since its inception in the year 1923. India’s 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
Paint
Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...
retailers.
Company history
One can trace the history of Berger Paints to the 18th century. In 1870, Louis Steinberger moved from FrankfurtFrankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to sell a Prussian blue
Prussian blue
Prussian blue is a dark blue pigment with the idealized formula Fe718. Another name for the color Prussian blue is Berlin blue or, in painting, Parisian blue. Turnbull's blue is the same substance but is made from different reagents....
colour, which was made using his own formula. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger and by 1870 Berger was selling 19 different pigment
Pigment
A pigment is a material that changes the color of reflected or transmitted light as the result of wavelength-selective absorption. This physical process differs from fluorescence, phosphorescence, and other forms of luminescence, in which a material emits light.Many materials selectively absorb...
s, including black lead, sulphur, sealing wax
Sealing wax
Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, quickly hardens forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something such as a document is unopened, to verify the sender's identity, for example with a signet ring, and as decoration...
and mustard
Mustard (color)
Mustard is a color that resembles culinary mustard. It is similar to the color Flax.-Mustard in human culture:Food* Mustard is the color of the belt awarded to the winner of the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest at Nathan's Famous in Coney Island, New York.Games*In the board game Cluedo, one of the...
.
After the demise of Lewis Berger his sons took over the business. Sherwin-Williams, 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
West Bengal
West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. It is also the seventh-most populous sub-national entity in the world, with over 91 million inhabitants. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's GDP...
.
In 1951, sales offices were opened in Delhi
Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
and Mumbai
Mumbai
Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
and a depot was started in Guwahati
Guwahati
Guwahati, Pragjyotishpura in ancient Assam formerly known as Gauhati is a metropolis,the largest city of Assam in India and ancient urban area in North East India, with a population of 963,429. It is also the largest metropolitan area in north-eastern India...
. 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 Berger’s 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 emulsion
Emulsion
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible . Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Although the terms colloid and emulsion are sometimes used interchangeably, emulsion is used when both the dispersed and the...
s and distempers
Distemper (paint)
Distemper is a term with a variety of meanings for paints used in decorating and as a historical medium for painting pictures. The binding element may be some form of glue or oil; these are known in decorating respectively as soft distemper and oil bound distemper.-Soft distemper:Distemper is an...
. 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.
International operations
Apart from operations in RussiaRussia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, with a production facility at the Berger manufacturing unit at Krasnodar
Krasnodar
Krasnodar is a city in Southern Russia, located on the Kuban River about northeast of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. It is the administrative center of Krasnodar Krai . Population: -Name:...
, Berger has also expanded its footprint in Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
by setting up a second unit. Today Berger’s sister company in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
is the dominant leader with over 65% market share. In keeping with the Company’s dynamic growth plan, Berger has also acquired Bolix SA of Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, a leading provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
. As Berger continues to grow internationally it also continues to be the second largest paint company in India.
Berger is the lone supplier to Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
with its protective coatings. The automotive sector, be it cars or bikes, is primarily ruled by Berger’s automotive coatings. Luxury cars including Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
make use of Berger’s products. Companies like Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
use Berger’s services as well. Berger has tied up with Becker of Sweden to manufacture coil coatings for steel surfaces.