Asian paints performs Bhoomi Pooja at new site

Coatings World, July, 2008

Asian Paints, India's largest paint company has performed Bhoomi Pooja--ground breaking ceremony--at the site of its proposed paint plant at the Industrial Model Township (IMT), Rohtak, Haryana.

"We are proud to be the first company to invest in IMT, Rohtak by setting up one of the largest paint plants in the world," said Ashwin Dani, vice chairman and managing director, Asian Paints. The plant is located on 130 acres of land and will manufacture both water- and solvent-based paints including emulsions and resins. Production is expected to start early 2010. The facility at Rohtak, Haryana is the sixth paint plant of Asian Paints in India.

VOLVO CE INVESTS IN A NEW PAINT SHOP

Volvo CE is investing SEK341 million in a new paint shop in the company's articulated hauler plant in Braas, Sweden. This investment will lead to an increase in capacity in the plant, a reduced impact on the environment and added improvement in quality, the company said.

The total market for articulated haulers has more than doubled in recent years and current demand is greater than ever before. In order to meet this increased demand, during the past few years, Volvo CE has made running investments to boost capacity in the articulated hauler plant in Braas. It is now the paint shop's turn and it will be replaced by an entirely new facility that will be completed in 2010.

The investment in the new paint shop will increase capacity by approximately 55% compared with the existing one. This will also result in a number of improvements with respect to the environment, such as a reduction of approximately 75% in emissions of VOCs, which above all can be attributed to a switch from solventborne to waterborne paints.

GM AWARDS DUPONT FOR COATINGS ACHIEVEMENTS

General Motors (GM) recently presented a 2007 Supplier of the Year award to DuPont Automotive OEM Coatings, which provides coatings to major automotive manufacturers globally. DuPont received a General Motors 2007 Supplier of the Year award for its "contributions to GM's global product and performance achievements."