Aditya Birla Group's paints unit files antitrust case against Asian Paints

Aditya Birla Group's Indian paints venture has filed an antitrust complaint against market leader Asian Paints for allegedly abusing its market position, three sources said, a case that could lead to a stand off between the two industry rivals.

Asian Paints is India's biggest player with a 52% market share, but it has lost some of its dominance after Birla Opus launched in February 2024 and grew rapidly to garner a near 7% market share by March this year, Elara Capital data shows.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) has in recent weeks been reviewing a confidential complaint filed by Birla Opus alleging abuse of its position by Asian Paints, said the two sources, who declined to be named as the discussions are private.

The CCI is yet to decide if the complaint holds merit and needs a broader probe by its investigations unit, or should be dismissed.

One of the sources familiar with the matter said the allegations from Birla say Asian Paints had asked its retail dealers to not stock the rival's products and had warned of restricting their credit facilities if they do so.

Birla Opus, the paints arm of the Aditya Birla Group company Grasim, did not respond to Reuters queries. The group is led by billionaire Kumar Mangalam Birla, India's seventh richest person ranked by Forbes.

Asian Paints and the CCI did not respond to Reuters queries.

Reuters is first to report the antitrust case, details of which - in line with watchdog's policy - are not made public.

The first source added that Asian Paints also allegedly told its dealers it will curtail its supplies to them if they put up hoardings of Birla paint products or place them at prominent places.

Asian Paints has not been told about the case, according to a source with direct knowledge. But it had received some media queries and has told the CCI in a confidential letter - seen by Reuters - that the company must be allowed fair comment before any decision is taken.

"The rapid and substantial growth of Birla Opus demonstrated the absence of any significant barriers to entry or anti-competitive conduct by existing players," Asian Paints letter to the CCI stated.

Birla has expanded its paints business in the $9.5 billion sector, starting last year with an investment of $1.2 billion, with five plants operational now. Asian Paints clocked revenues of 294 billion Indian rupees ($3.43 billion) in 2024-25, and has 26 factories globally.

In 2022, the CCI closed a case filed by JSW Paints against Asian Paints for abusing its market position, saying it found no contravention of competition laws.  (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)