Chiripal Poly Films has become a significant player in film manufacturing both in India and globally, in just a decade. With its new BOPET line to be inaugurated in Hyderabad in May of this year, the company is extremely optimistic about its future growth, as CEO Sumant Singhal reveals some of his future investments in an exclusive interview to Packaging South Asia.
Chiripal’s CEO Sumant Singhal says, “We have come a long way in the last 10 years overcoming many challenges and achieving several successes. Looking back, it is an immensely satisfying journey. When we started, the Group had no prior experience in the packaging films business and we were a late entrant in an industry dominated by major players who had a 20-year head start on us.
“Establishing ourselves as a serious player in the industry against the onslaught of the competition was a very big challenge. We embraced competition, stuck to our task, stayed focussed on our goals, and built the business brick by brick,” he adds.
Many milestones over the last 10 years
The company is now a major player in the packaging films business and clocks turnover of Rs. 2800 crore (approximately US$ 375 million). From being a single line, single product, and single location company, Chiripal Poly Films has over the last decade become a multi-line, multi-product, and multi-locational company.
“The milestones are many.” Singhal recalls some of these – “To name a few, the starting up of our BOPET film line in 2015 which gave us our second film product after BOPP. Entering the PET resin space in 2017, marked our diversification to packaging feedstock beyond films. In 2019, we started our coating line which was a significant step towards strengthening our value-added product portfolio. Last but not the least, we inaugurated our new plant in Hyderabad in 2021 which gives us proximity to more markets and diversifies our business continuity risks.”
He says that the company’s success stems from the clear vision of its goals. “We always knew where we wanted to be in 10 years and we were committed to these goals irrespective of the upturns or downturns the business encountered.”
People and customer-centric
The other major contributors to success have been the focus on people and customers, Singhal adds. “We have a very capable team which is highly committed and has done everything under the sun to achieve the company’s objectives. We have always nurtured talent and built an ecosystem where our team members have enhanced their skills, developed as professionals, and actualized their full potential. We have one of the lowest attrition rates in the industry today. We have always endeavored to be a customer-centric organization and treated the voice of the customer with the utmost respect – and through our actions, tried to exceed their expectations. This has always stood us in good stead and we enjoy a high degree of customer loyalty in both domestic and international markets.”
Accelerating the growth trajectory over the next decade
According to Singhal, Chiripal Poly Films has chalked out a very aggressive expansion strategy for the coming years. “Our new BOPET line will get commissioned in Hyderabad by May 2022 and will be followed by a CPP line at the same location in December 2022,” he says. “We are installing another coating line within the next 12 months. We have another BOPET and BOPP line planned for commissioning in 2024. We also plan to significantly expand our PET resin capacity within the next 18 to 24 months. Another major diversification is in the area of aluminum foil which we will announce shortly.”
When asked about the reasons for the aggressive investment drive over the coming decade, Singhal draws inspiration from the 19th-century French dramatist Alexander Dumas – “Nothing succeeds like success,” he says. “Having reached Rs. 2,800 crores turnover in 10 years, we do not want to rest on our laurels but accelerate our growth trajectory for the next decade,” he says. “The Group sees the packaging films business as a growth driver and is firmly committed to it. The projected growth in packaging demand, particularly in the subcontinent, further gives us the confidence to go ahead with this investment strategy.”
Sustainability and compliance
He is convinced that the demand for packaged goods will continue to be driven by the rising per capita and disposal incomes, a booming middle class, higher organized retail penetration, and, of late, the changes in attitude, culture, and supply chain brought by the Covid 19 pandemic. “Of course, we will have to improvise and innovate a lot more to ensure that our products comply with sustainability requirements both in India and globally,” he explains.
Once the new investment phase is over, the company will have a films capacity of 300,000 MTPA and a PET resin capacity of 364,000 MT. Singhal says that the company will clock a turnover above Rs. 6500 crores by 2027.
“However, turnover is not the only metric we believe in. We want to strengthen our position as a supplier of choice with our customers both in India and globally,” he concludes.
