 "Construction chemicals firm MBS eyes Rs 500 crore turnover by 2028")
Global construction chemicals company Master Builders Solutions (MBS), re-entering the Indian market after about two years, aims to achieve an annual turnover of approximately Rs 500 crore by 2028, anticipating strong demand for its high-quality products designed to enable faster construction and reduce carbon emissions, its India Head Himanshu Kapadia told Business Standard on Thursday.
The construction chemicals industry in India is valued at approximately Rs 20,000 crore. About half of this turnover is generated from construction projects where organised and engineered concrete production is common. The remaining half comes from the retail market, where concrete is still made on-site using traditional methods.
MBS is going to be present in the first half (construction projects) of the market. The company’s Global CEO Boris Gorella told the newspaper that India is the most attractive market right now for MBS.
“The GDP forecast makes it clear that India will grow in high single digits. The rate of growth of construction chemicals industry in any emerging country is usually at least twice the GDP growth,” he explained.
“Also, in mature markets like Germany, almost 99 per cent of concrete is treated with chemicals. The penetration of chemicals in concrete is enormous because there are specific compositions defined for the concrete. Now, such specifications are growing in India as well. This makes the market very attractive,” he added.
MBS’s global turnover in 2023 was over 900 million Euros.
Also Read
The company is right now building its first plant in Taloja near Mumbai. Keeping aside the land cost, the company is putting in Rs 20 crore in plant and machinery to establish this facility, which would also include a research and development centre.
“Our focus in India during the next five years is on turnover. However, more than that, our focus is on the shift to higher technology because the performance expectation is continuously going up. The government now wants to complete its construction fast. Also, whether it is the government and the industry, they have started understanding the importance of safety. No one understood the importance of these factors 20 years ago,” said
Kapadia, who is also Cluster Head for the Middle East and Turkey.
“With this technology push, we believe that we would be able to take our turnover to Rs 400-500 crore by 2028. The growth rate is expected to be quicker after 2028 as it would take some time for customers to go from one technology to a higher technology,” he explained.
About eight per cent of the global carbon emissions are due to concrete.
“We have some products that reduce the cement content in the concrete by half. This leads to a dramatic reduction in carbon footprint,” he noted.
MBS was originally a brand of German firm BASF but became a standalone company after BASF spun off its construction chemicals division in 2023. In India, MBS’s assets were sold to its competitor firm Sika, with a two-year restriction on using the MBS brand. During this period, Sika operated the assets and worked to convert customers. Now, with the restriction lifted, MBS has re-entered the Indian market under its original brand and is focused on regaining its market share.