Did you know Shalimar Paints was founded in 1902 and that it has even painted the iconic Howrah bridge?

Shalimar Paints is one of India's oldest and among the leading paints manufacturing companies. Founded by two Britishers - A N Turner and A N Wright, this century old brand has painted many iconic places in the country including the Howrah Bridge.

Shalimar Paints has a legacy that makes it one of the most popular Indian paint brands. It was started by two Britishers in Howrah in the year 1902, and in the same year, it set up a large-scale manufacturing plant too. This massive plant was the first such plant not just in Howrah but in entire South-East Asia. Shalimar has not only painted Howrah Bridge but also Rashtrapati Bhawan, Salt Lake Stadium, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, and many other structures.

The foreign ownerships and painting iconic buildings:

The British duo successfully ran Shalimar Paints until 1928 when the first change of its ownership happened. After these British entrepreneurs, a UK-based multinational Pinchin Johnson & Associates bought control of Shalimar. It then became part of Pinchin's parent company, the Red Hand Composition conglomerate. In 1964, when International Paints acquired Red Hand Composition, the ownership changed once again. This time it was Turner Morisson & Co. that became the new management and the name was officially changed to Shalimar Paints Ltd.

During this time, Shalimar painted many iconic projects. The then President of India, V.V. Giri got the Rashtrapati Bhavan painted with its paints. In the meantime, Shalimar also painted many buildings, even the palaces of Bhutan and Nepal. One of its most cherished projects, Howrah was done between 1948- 49. It is also said that the bridge is painted after every eight to 10 years even now. According to Subhas Banerjee, who is the Regional Head at Shalimar, It takes about a month-and-a-half to finish painting the pillars of the bridge.

The dilution of foreign ownership:

In 1972, it became a public company, but it still had foreign ownership. The dilution of which began when the Foreign Exchange Regulations Act (FERA), became functional in the 1970s. This act said that foreign companies could only be minority shareholders in Indian firms. Many foreign companies including Coca-Cola and IBM lost their interest in Indian companies, and Shalimar also suffered during this period. In 1989, the O.P. Jindal Group along with the Hong-Kong-based S.S. Jhunjhnuwala Group took over Shalimar Paints.

Like other Indian brands and companies, it was also not going well for Shalimar but finally, in the year 1997, all of its struggles came to an end. It started growing in the early 2000s with increased activity in housing, infrastructure, and other sectors. In 2003, it came up with a plant in Sikandrabad near Delhi, and since then it has never looked back. Today, Shalimar Paints has 30+ depots, and the company services 5,000+ dealers across the country.

A company which was started by two foreigners has now become one of the leading paint manufacturers in the country. The current CEO of Shalimar is Mr.Sandeep Sarda, and according to Wikipedia, it has a revenue of Rs.3,673 million.

Also Read: Mavalli Tiffin Rooms, aka MTR, is pleasing our tastebuds with its South Indian food even before the independence!

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