BirlaNu, part of the CKA Birla Group, is sharpening its focus on construction chemicals and pipes, while stepping up investments in higher-margin products as it seeks to transform its business over the next five years.
The building materials and home solutions company has earmarked close to ₹500 crore of investment over the next two years to expand capacity and support its growth plans, Akshat Seth, managing director and chief executive officer of BirlaNu, said in an interview with Mint.
“We are rebalancing our portfolio towards more high-growth and high-margin products in the larger home and building product space,” Seth said.
The shift comes as BirlaNu seeks to accelerate growth and improve profitability. The company reported a revenue of ₹3,730.4 crore in FY26, up 3.2% year-on-year, while its losses widened to ₹120 crore from ₹33 crore.
Construction chemicals and pipes currently account for just under 25% of BirlaNu’s overall revenue. The company wants each of the two businesses to reach ₹1,200-1,500 crore in revenue over the next five years, while its wall business is targeted to cross ₹1,000 crore.
The expansion also comes as BirlaNu seeks to offset cost pressures caused by the West Asia crisis, which has pushed up raw material, power, fuel, logistics and labour costs. The company has responded with a combination of price increases and cost-efficiency measures.
The company has reworked product formulations and sourcing costs, while deploying technology and automation to reduce manpower requirements.
It has also sought to lower energy costs through renewable power. BirlaNu acquired a 26% stake in Fourth Partner in an open-access renewable energy deal in August. Seth said it could reduce power costs by at least 30%.
The company is also looking to scale its recently acquired construction-chemicals business, Clean Coats. The business, which focuses on high-performance coatings and epoxy flooring products for the B2B market, had revenue of about ₹50 crore at the time of acquisition, with profitability of around 20%. BirlaNu is targeting high double-digit growth to take Clean Coats’ revenue to about ₹300 crore over the next three years.
BirlaNu’s overseas flooring business Parador, however, remains a drag on its consolidated earnings. The German company has been hit by weakness in European construction markets, which Seth said declined 25-30% following the Ukraine war.
He expects revenue from the US to be four to five times last year’s level and has invested in India, Southeast Asia and the West Asia over the past 12-18 months. The company is also expanding its commercial channel and seeking to deepen its presence in Europe’s DIY and retail markets.
"Together, we believe we should grow at a CAGR of 12 to 15% over the next four to five years,” he said.
Investors have questioned BirlaNu’s management on whether it should continue supporting the European subsidiary or consider a more decisive strategic action. At the company’s fourth-quarter investor conference, one investor asked whether, after “continuously making losses” if it was time for a final call to stop-loss.
Seth said the broader ambition is to turn BirlaNu into an integrated building materials platform rather than a collection of independent businesses.
Since the beginning of the year, BirlaNu’s shares have fallen 12.62% underperforming the Nifty, which declined just 10.38% over the same period.
This story was updated to reflect the full name of the CKA Birla Group.