Glued To Growth

Pidilite’s Madhukar Parekh sees his fortune soar as the Fevicolmaker’s stock appreciates on the back of strong volume-led sales growth and a push into high-growth businesses

- Varsha Meghani

A colourful canopy rises over the Pidilite headquarters in suburban Mumbai. Staff members in traditional dresses hustle about making last-minute arrangements. The atmosphere is palpably festive. “We have our Dussehra celebration today,” smiles Bharat Puri, managing director of the adhesive and industrial chemicals maker, who took over daily operations from chairman Madhukar Parekh in early 2015. “It’s a nice way to bring people together,” he says, gesturing his stocky palms towards each other.

Creating such bonds is what Pidilite does best. What began as a B2B industrial products company set up by Parekh’s late father Balvant in 1959, morphed into a consumer oriented company on the back of clever advertising in the ’80s and ’90s led by the junior Parekh. The result: Fevicol, its flagship brand, has become synonymous with glue. Consider Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remark during his visit to Japan shortly after taking office: “The bond we share is stronger than that of Fevicol,” he announced while wrapping up his five-day visit. Lower down the rung, Mohammed Qureshi, an independent civil works contractor who uses Pidilite’s products, echoes the sentiment, “When you tell customers you can stick things with gum versus doing the same with Fevicol, it makes a huge difference. The name inspires trust.”

As the best-selling adhesive in the country, Fevicol commands over 70 percent market share in the white glue segment, and makes up around 40 percent of Pidilite’s 5,354 crore revenues. Parekh, who along with his family holds a 70 percent stake in the BSE-listed company, has seen his fortune rise by $1 billion in the past year to hit $5.75 billion (rank 19 on the 2018 Forbes India Rich List, up from 28 last year), boosted by a 32 percent rise in Pidilite’s stock price in the 12 months ended March 2018.