Saint-Gobain Plans ₹11,000 Crore India Investment Over Five Years
"I don't come here to sell you a product. I will reduce the energy bill and will reduce the noise." That line from Saint-Gobain's India chief sums up where the company is taking its biggest growth market.
Saint-Gobain plans to invest about ₹11,000 crore in India over the next five years — new plants, research and development, digital capabilities and acquisitions in building materials. That lifts its average yearly investment from about ₹990 crore to about ₹2,200 crore, an increase of roughly 122%. The company invested about ₹9,900 crore in India over the previous decade.
India is already among Saint-Gobain's five most profitable markets and its fastest-growing country, with 2025 sales of €1.7 billion at an EBITDA margin above 20%. The company has 82 plants in India across glass, insulation, construction chemicals and gypsum products. Chairman and CEO Benoît Bazin has set an ambition to triple the size of the Indian business over the next decade.
Sreedhar N., Senior Vice-President and CEO for Asia-Pacific and India, said the strategy is to sell integrated solutions for energy efficiency, thermal comfort and noise reduction rather than individual products. "I am willing to acquire anything meaningful for our organisation," he said, adding that his dream would be to "completely replace sand, cement, and brick" with lighter materials.
What it means for buyers and suppliers
More plants in insulation, construction chemicals and gypsum mean more demand for their raw materials and additives — polymers, admixtures, fibres, binders and specialty chemicals. Suppliers to building materials should expect more local sourcing opportunities as new capacity comes up.
Sources: Chemical Industry Digest; SiliconIndia; DT Next (August 2023 plan). Photo (representative): gypsum drywall boards and tools. Timothyjosephwood, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.