Aluminium giant Hindalco sees a big window of opportunity in its value-added downstream business that includes solutions for the auto, AC, and building and construction industries. The company is targeting over ₹1,000 crore in revenue by FY29, from Eternia, its windows and doors brand alone even as MD Satish Pai said the company was equally gungho about its fast growing auto and AC solutions. He said they would also be entering the modular kitchen space soon.
Speaking at the launch of the first experience centre of Eternia in New Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar — a swank outlet with demos and samples of its futuristic windows, facades and doors, including options fitted with meshes and blinds — Pai said, “We now have a portfolio of products that address the auto market like our battery enclosures in the EV segment, fins or the copper tubes that go into making ACs, high end products for defence sector and building and construction industry.”
Said Pai, “Seeing the aspirational growth that comes with the country’s growth is why we have gone into all these value-added products.” Of the 1.3 million tonnes of aluminium, Hindalco produces, he said nearly half — about 600,000 tonnes — was now going into value-added products. Pai said in the downstream side of the business, the company was getting a mark up of $220 per ton and in the next years was targeting to touch a mark up of $300 a tonne.
In Eternia, which was born in 2020, the company has invested nearly ₹1,500 crore, he estimated, if you consider the manufacturing capability, upgrades, retail and distribution and marketing. Eternia products are manufactured and supported through key downstream facilities located at Renukoot, Silvassa, Kuppam, and Alupuram. In addition a manufacturing hub was recently launched in Bilaspur in Gurugram. Spread across 120,000 sq. ft., the facility has the capacity to produce up to 250,000 sq. ft. of windows per month, said Pai, describing how the North market was strategic for the brand.
According to the company, the windows and façade segment in India represents an estimated ₹40,000 crore market opportunity and is largely unorganised, with premium segments growing at nearly 15 per cent CAGR. Competitors in the segment include Fenesta, Schüco, and TOSTEM. Hindalco said Eternia, which uses a proprietary patented alloy called Duranium, was among the fastest-growing players in the system aluminium windows segment, recording nearly 65 per cent CAGR growth over the last three years. “One key differentiation between us and any of our competitors is we control the full value chain from the quality of the aluminium to the quality of the extrusion to the end product,” pointed out Pai.
According to Kopal Agrawal, CEO, Aluminium Downstream, the Eternia brand today operates through 170+ channel partners across 100+ cities and has 50 stores. “We plan to take it up to 100 stores by next year,” she said.
Besides the aesthetics, Pai pointed out that adoption of system aluminium windows is also rising because of recyclability and sustainability. “We have also invested in a large aluminium recycling plant just outside our smelter in Aditya Aluminium complex in Sambalpur,” he said, describing the circularity strategy of Hindalco.