Candida Moraes

Generating wealth from waste, Tata Pigments turns pickle liquor — an
effluent from the Tata Steel tubes division — into valuable synthetic iron oxide pigments

It was the 1920s. Industrial pollution was not a critical issue, unlike today. But Sir Dorabji Tata, who headed the Group then, did not want to discharge the acidic waste pickle liquor generated in Tata Steel’s sheet mills into the nearby river. Instead, he saw an opportunity to create wealth from waste, by using it to make iron oxide pigments. Thus was Tatanagar Chemicals set up in 1927.

Renamed Chemico in 1937 after Tata Steel took it over, it then became Cyanides and Pigments (C&P) in 1958, making sodium and potassium ferro-cyanide (using cyanide sludge from TISCO’s coke oven gas washing plant) in collaboration with Beco Chemicals, a German firm. Later, Indian Tube Co (ITC) acquired Beco Chemicals, and when ITC merged with Tata Steel in the 1980s, C&P became a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Steel. In 1985, its name was changed to Tata Pigments (TPL).

Tata Pigments is the sole manufacturer of synthetic iron oxide pigments in the organised sector. The company is ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001:2004 and ISO 18001:1999 certified. It has modern and eco-friendly processes, with direct precipitation-cum-hydrolysis technology for red iron oxide pigments and upgraded seed making technology for yellow iron oxide pigments. “The new technology enabled us to produce international quality pigments at a competitive price,” says BPS Panwar, former managing director who was with the company for 14 years till July 2007.

Over the last 20 years, TPL has grown from a single product — oxides — to offer pigments, floor colouring and consumables. ‘Tata Red’ a synthetic red iron oxide for floor application, is the leader in the flooring colour segment. Other colours include black, yellow, green, blue and pink. TPL’s product range now also includes ‘Cemplus’ dry cement paints, as well as ‘Ecoplus’ exterior emulsion paints and acrylic distempers, and ‘Wallplus’ putty and cement based primer.

Pigments are sold to institutional buyers, mainly to the paint, paper, rubber tiles and plastics industries. TPL’s customers include Asian Paints, Goodlass Nerolac, Berger Paints, ITC Triveni Tissues and Pudumjee Pulp and Papers Mills. Flooring colours, paints and consumables are marketed through distributors, dealers and retailers. Small quantities are exported, mainly to neighbouring countries.

An ongoing diversification programme will add new products and increase geographical spread. The business was mainly in the east and northeast and the company is now reaching out countrywide through BPO routes. The immediate focus is to make TPL a Rs500-million company; it is already growing at almost 20 per cent year-on-year.

TPL also wants to modernise and expand its existing plant capacity and boost supporting businesses by opening processing centres elsewhere in the country. The emphasis is also on identifying employees’ needs and training them. An ‘open door’ policy encourages employees to meet the chief executive at any time while a quarterly dialogue between departmental heads and their employees enables communication and knowledge sharing. Good work is recognised through awards.

In keeping with the Group philosophy of giving back to the community, TPL has been successfully running a mother and child care unit in Bagbera for the last nine years, and with Tata Steel Rural Development Society’s support, the company conducts regular AIDS awareness programmes and blood donation camps.

P Sarode who took over as managing director in August 2007 envisages some challenges ahead. “Maintaining our number one status is difficult with competition from China and the unorganised sector, both of which enjoy a price benefit,” he says. His answer is to cut production costs. Earlier, raw materials came free of cost from Tata Steel wastes, but some pigments are now made with ferrous iron sulphate hepta hydrate, so production costs have jumped. Fuel prices are another concern.

Tata Pigments is gearing up to meet challenges head on. “We are taking immediate steps to substitute expensive raw materials with cheaper alternatives, reducing wastage and re-work, and reducing overheads by rightsizing the workforce,” says Sarode. The company is determined to do what it takes to touch the Rs500-million mark.

Uploaded in December 2007