Nippon Paint India sharpens India-first push under new leadership

CHENNAI: Nippon Paint India has drawn a bold line under its leadership transition, rolling out a tightly focused, India-first growth playbook under managing director Sharad Malhotra. Unveiled in Chennai on January 09, 2026, the strategy is the company’s clearest articulation yet of how it plans to scale in one of its most contested markets.

The roadmap centres on three levers: a sharper India-centric operating model, faster pan-India expansion and selective inorganic growth to bulk up its local portfolio. With seven manufacturing plants already in place and a strong ‘Make in India’ backbone, the company is doubling down on local relevance while tapping Japanese technology and process discipline.

The immediate thrust is expansion beyond its southern stronghold. Nippon Paint India plans to deepen penetration across high-growth urban and semi-urban centres, refine market segmentation and widen its dealer and distribution footprint, even as it defends share in core regions.

Malhotra called India a long-term priority, signalling a shift from opportunistic growth to deliberate scale. As the first Indian managing director of Nippon Paint India, his brief is to build an India-specific model that meets global standards but plays to local realities.

The push is mirrored in the decorative business, where president Mark Titus sees headroom driven by premiumisation, brand building and stronger channel and influencer partnerships. The emphasis: thoughtful scale, global best practice and brands that travel across regions.

Operationally, the company will bring all its paints and coatings businesses under a unified operating structure, designed to unlock manufacturing flexibility, operational leverage and a single, cohesive pan-India engine.

Backed by six decades of Asia-Pacific leadership and a balance across decorative, industrial, automotive, OEM, refinish and wood coatings, Nippon Paint is betting on technology-led growth, disciplined execution and selective M&A. The message is clear: India is no longer a market to test—it is a market to win.