Berger Paints Ltd is an Indian
multinational paint
Paint is any pigmented liquid, liquefiable, or solid mastic composition that, after application to a substrate in a thin layer, converts to a solid film. It is most commonly used to protect, color, or provide texture. Paint can be made in many ...
company, based in
Kolkata
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...
,
West Bengal
West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fourt ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. This company has 16 manufacturing units in India, 2 in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
, 1 each in
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
and
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
. It has manufacturing units at
Howrah
Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...
and
Rishra
Rishra is a city and a municipality in Srirampore subdivision of Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA).
History
The origin of Rishra situate ...
,
Arinso,
Taloja
Taloja is a census town in Raigad district of Navi Mumbai city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is an extension of the Kharghar node and governed by Panvel Municipal Corporation. Taloja has Navi Mumbai Metro Phase I starting origin point a ...
,
Naltoli,
Goa
Goa () is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is located between the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north and Karnataka to the ...
,
Devla Devla/Del/Devel, Devlam, Devles, Devleske or Dovel is the word used when directly calling or praying to God in the Romani language.
Names
''Devla'' basically means "God". It cannot be confused with the English word Devil, because the word for "Devi ...
,
Hindupur
Hindupur is a city in Sri Sathya Sai district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located to the edge of the Andhra–Karnataka border and is the headquarters of Hindupur mandal. Hindupur is the biggest Parliamentary Constituency i ...
,
Jejuri
Jejuri (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʒed͡zuɾiː is a city and a municipal council in the Pune district of Maharashtra, India. The town has an important mandir to the Hindu Lord Khandoba, the Khandoba Mandir, which is one of the most visited ...
,
Jammu
Jammu is the winter capital of the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (union territory), Jammu and Kashmir. It is the headquarters and the largest city in Jammu district of the union territory. Lying on the banks of the river Tawi Ri ...
,
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry t ...
and
Udyognagar. The company has presence in five countries – India, Russia, Poland, Nepal and Bangladesh. They have an employee strength of over 3,600 and a countrywide distribution network of 25,000+ dealers.
History
European
In 1760, Louis Berger, started a
dye
A dye is a colored substance that chemically bonds to the substrate to which it is being applied. This distinguishes dyes from pigments which do not chemically bind to the material they color. Dye is generally applied in an aqueous solution an ...
and
pigment
A pigment is a colored material that is completely or nearly insoluble in water. In contrast, dyes are typically soluble, at least at some stage in their use. Generally dyes are often organic compounds whereas pigments are often inorganic compo ...
manufacturing business in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, which later changed to Louis Berger & Sons Limited. In 1770, Louis Steigenberger shifted from
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
to
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
to sell a
Prussian blue
Prussian blue (also known as Berlin blue, Brandenburg blue or, in painting, Parisian or Paris blue) is a dark blue pigment produced by oxidation of ferrous ferrocyanide salts. It has the chemical formula Fe CN)">Cyanide.html" ;"title="e(Cyani ...
colour, which was made using his own formula. Mr. Berger perfected this process & art of the blue colour, which was the colour of most military uniforms of that time. He then changed his name to Lewis Berger. By 1870, Berger Paints was selling 19 different pigments such as black lead, sulphur, sealing wax and mustard. After his demise, his sons took over the business.
Indian sub-continent
On 17 December 1923, Mr. Hadfield set up Hadfield's (India) Ltd., a small paint company in
Calcutta
Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
.
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
Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...
and
Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
and a depot was started in
Guwahati
Guwahati (, ; formerly rendered Gauhati, ) is the biggest city of the Indian state of Assam and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the ...
. In 1969, Berger Jenson Nicholson Limited, UK bought British Paints (India) Ltd. This marked the beginning of Lewis Berger's legacy in India.
In the year 1973, D. Madhukar took over as the managing director. Sales figures reached over 16
crore
A crore (; abbreviated cr) denotes ten million (10,000,000 or 107 in scientific notation) and is equal to 100 lakh in the Indian numbering system. It is written as 1,00,00,000 with the local 2,2,3 style of digit group separators (one lakh is e ...
by 1978. The 80s and the 90s saw the launch of many new products such as
emulsions
An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Althoug ...
and
distempers. In 1991,
UB group
UB or Ub may refer to:
Organizations
*Basel University Library, german: Bibliothek der Universität Basel, abbreviated UB.
*UltimateBet, a defunct online poker site
*Ungermann-Bass, a computer networking company in California
*United Biscuits, a ...
sold the company to
Kuldip Singh Dhingra
Kuldip Singh Dhingra is an Indian entrepreneur, promoter and chairman of Berger Paints.
Kuldip has been listed as one of Forbes India's richest Indians and also in its The World's Billionaires list among the highest Indians by net worth.
Ear ...
(Chairman) and
Gurbachan Singh Dhingra (Vice Chairman). Subir Bose took over as managing director on 1 July 1994. Bose retired on 30 June 2012, handing over the company to Abhijit Roy, the current managing director. On Mar 13, 2013, Berger Paints has acquired the Mumbai-based architectural paints division of
Sherwin Williams. In the year 2021, Berger Paints set up their plant in
Sandila
Sandila is a town and nagar palika parishad in Hardoi district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It serves as a tehsil headquarters within the district. Located midway between Hardoi and Lucknow, Sandila is a well-connected town with roads le ...
in the state of
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
.
Pakistan
On 25 March 1950, Berger Paints Pakistan Limited was incorporated in Pakistan. In 1955, the Karachi factory was established. In 1974, Berger Pakistan became a public limited company. In 1974, Berger Pakistan 50.62% shares were held by Jenson & Nicholson Limited (U.K. parent company), 49.38% shares were held by Pakistani investors. In 1991, Slotrapid Limited, a British Virgin Island company, acquired control of Berger Paints Pakistan Limited by purchasing 50.62% shares of the company.
Bangladesh
In the geographical region of
Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...
, Berger Paints were imported from Berger UK and then from Berger Pakistan. In 1970, the Kalurghat, Chittagong factory was inaugurated. In 1980, the name of the company changed from J&N (Bangladesh) Limited to Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited.
Operations
Apart from operations in Russia and a production facility at the Berger manufacturing unit at
Krasnodar
Krasnodar (; rus, Краснода́р, p=krəsnɐˈdar; ady, Краснодар), formerly Yekaterinodar (until 1920), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Krasnodar Krai, Russia. The city stands on the Kuban River in southern ...
, Berger Paints India also has an operational unit in
Nepal
Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne,
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
. They have also acquired Bolix SA of Poland, a provider of External Insulation Finishing Systems (EIFS) in
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...
.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger Paints
Manufacturing companies based in Kolkata
Paint companies of India
Chemical companies of India
Chemical companies established in 1923
Indian brands
Indian companies established in 1923
Companies listed on the National Stock Exchange of India
Companies listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange