Indigo Paints is targeting more than 25% annual revenue growth if the paints industry grows at 13-14%, as it steps up marketing and expands into new categories. Managing director Hemant Jalan is targeting to grow at least 10 percentage points faster than the industry, stating that "what is more important for a company of our size is to grow the top line aggressively." The company, which currently holds about 3% of India's decorative paints market, does not have a fixed market-share target but aims to steadily gain share through aggressive expansion.
Indigo Paints is putting growth ahead of margins as it steps up spending to win market share in India's increasingly competitive paints market. The company reported a gross margin of 44.6% in the April-June quarter of FY27, compared with an industry average of 41.5%, according to its recent investor presentation. Jalan said the company is prepared to accept some pressure on margins as it spends more on trade promotions and influencers, with advertising and promotion spend expected to exceed last year's level despite cutting it to 4.3% of revenue in the June quarter from 6.8% in the year-earlier quarter.
The competitive intensity remains high, particularly with Birla Opus continuing to offer deep discounts. Jalan said the new entrant's sales appear to have plateaued and that incumbent paint makers have not followed its discounting strategy. "Price war between paint companies was actually never there," he said. The company's biggest disadvantage compared with larger peers such as Asian Paints and Berger Paints is its relatively smaller scale and younger brand, having existed for about 25 years compared to companies that have been in the market for around a century.
Indigo Paints is looking beyond its traditional decorative paints portfolio to fuel growth, pushing into wood coatings and evaluating categories such as auto refinish. The company's waterproofing business has already become a significant part of turnover following its acquisition of 51% stake in Apple Chemie India Private Limited two years ago, with Indigo announcing it has increased its stake to 62% last week. The company is also open to industrial coatings, although any entry would likely come through an inorganic opportunity.
ICICI Securities analysts model Indigo Paints to maintain industry leading growth led by market share expansion in FY27-28, with the company's strategy to increase expenditure on trade channels likely to strengthen its market position. However, the growth push comes as Indigo Paints' stock has lagged the broader market since the beginning of 2026, losing over 3% during the period compared with an over 4% decline in Asian Paints. The stock traded at ₹1,147.95 on the BSE in early deals on Wednesday.
