In this episode of Meet The Game Changers, OneIndia’s Pankaj Mishra speaks with Kaushal Mehta, Managing Director of Walplast, one of India’s most trusted and rapidly growing names in building and construction materials.
From Walplast’s journey of growth to its innovation roadmap, expansion plans, quality systems, dealer network strategy, and its growing footprint across urban and tier-3 markets — this conversation explores how the company is shaping the future of India’s construction ecosystem.
#MeetTheGameChangers #Walplast #KaushalMehta #ConstructionMaterials #IndianManufacturing #BuildingIndia #OneIndia #InfrastructureGrowth #ConstructionIndustry #InnovationInConstruction #PankajMishra #MakeInIndia #NewIndia
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From Walplast’s journey of growth to its innovation roadmap, expansion plans, quality systems, dealer network strategy, and its growing footprint across urban and tier-3 markets — this conversation explores how the company is shaping the future of India’s construction ecosystem.
#MeetTheGameChangers #Walplast #KaushalMehta #ConstructionMaterials #IndianManufacturing #BuildingIndia #OneIndia #InfrastructureGrowth #ConstructionIndustry #InnovationInConstruction #PankajMishra #MakeInIndia #NewIndia
~HT.178~PR.282~ED.110~
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NewsTranscript
00:00hello and welcome to meet the game changers the show where we spotlight the leaders innovators
00:05and disruptors shaping the new india today we are joined by kaushal mehta managing director of
00:12wallplast one of the country's most trusted names in building and construction materials
00:18with a strong footprint across india and global markets mr mehta welcome to one india
00:23thank you so much pankerji for having me here pleasure mr mehta to begin with how has wallplus
00:31journey evolved from its early days to becoming one of the india's leading building materials companies
00:41so uh to start with the journey i would want to take you back 21 years from now
00:48uh the journey of wallplus started in the year 2004 in the month of july this was started by our
00:56honorable chairman mr ashok mehta uh he earlier uh for almost five decades now he has been a part of
01:05the building metal and the construction uh material business as a trader it was 2004 where he could see
01:14uh the future of the building metal industry with one single product which now is called as the
01:20wall party he would sense the larger scope in that he could sense the growth and the change in the
01:28phase of the construction industry so when he looked at the the overall business as a product
01:34that's where he thought of getting into manufacturing and the journey of wallplus then started in 2004
01:41initially it was on a very low scale that he wanted to start off with uh serving only to the larger
01:51developers in and around navi mumbai then when he actually entered into the market that's where you
01:57know he saw the scope of of the product itself he was very strong in the belief that this product will
02:06take us long that's where he started building up the team and uh yeah my my uh association with wallplus
02:13started then okay that's where with his belief taking his belief uh further we started expanding our
02:20wings uh in the last 21 years when we say we started expanding our wings uh by way of manufacturing units
02:28we have expanded our footprints to six different states of the country today with 21 manufacturing
02:34units that that's huge that's one of the largest manufacturers of dry mix mortars today in which
02:41wall party becomes one of the product so that's where we have been present in most of the states in
02:48the country today with six different states serving these customers spread across the country yeah serving
02:55600 distributors almost 10 000 retailers and around 65 000 of influencers around the country is
03:03something which uh you know gives us that sense of pride of taking our honorable chairman's
03:08vision to this level right i'm sure the legacy that you are carrying forward and uh you know to run such
03:15a huge uh mechanism and keep the teams intact i would say uh the core pillars and uh the vision is also
03:23paramount please share with us uh what is it that makes wallplast what it is the pillars and the vision
03:30and the way ahead yeah so uh if i recollect one single statement that chairman saab as his vision as his
03:38thought as his culture which now is a part of this organization has been consistently telling us
03:46is till the time we do not add value to our people to our team to our organization to this industry
03:55it is not going to give us the sense of being a part of this if you really want to have that
04:02transformation in the industry in the organization in our own self as individuals first is you know you
04:09got to have that with a very clear mindset of adding value to the overall system for example let
04:17us take take volpatti with which we started in 2004 is this product going to add value to the
04:24construction industry is this product going to add value to my customers to my influencers to the
04:29developers it's not just a transaction of sale and a purchase you'll have to think beyond just a
04:37transaction and the moment we start thinking beyond a transaction that's where the complete game
04:43changes okay that's uh you know as they say yeah to run a business is uh 80 it could be mine but
04:5420 the heart and that you at the right place has to be there and that's when the core values and
05:00vision work also so any plans for the uh upcoming expansion or innovations that can that we can
05:07expect from volplast in the next few years uh see if we if we talk about innovation uh i would i would
05:15say that we as an organization have always focused on adding value but through our products and services
05:22to our customers and the industry any product that we have entered we would first look at what is the
05:29uh benefit to the uh benefit to the industry on a long-term basis yeah we are not in this industry
05:36in the business for a short term it's not just a profit making uh thing that we would want to focus
05:41on till the time it does not serve our purpose of adding value uh we will not get into the product line
05:48itself uh when we talk about innovation we have enable uh accredited lab with us in at the head office
05:58where the complete transformation of the products the life of the product is looked at
06:04post wall party we could sense that this product at a time will become a part and parcel of the
06:11construction industry that's where it will be the time for us to look at something much larger
06:16so now uh what we are absolutely focusing on is the next product line which is tile adhesive we are
06:23focusing on the next product line which is gypsum plasters and gypsum plaster boards okay these are
06:29the two major products with this we are now focusing on the overall segment of waterproofing
06:35yeah okay so these are the three different product lines that through through the r and d where we could
06:42sense that the next uh phenomenal leap the next change of the industry is going to happen in these three
06:50product segments we will be adding a lot of value uh to the industry to our customers to our consumers
06:58through these three different product lines tile adhesives gypsum plasters and gypsum plaster boards
07:04and the waterproofing segment uh just to add pankaji on this the most recent product that we have come
07:13up with we have innovated is uh the product in the jpex category which is a gypsum plaster category
07:21which we call it as nova 125 it is a product which gives 25 percent additional coverage in the same
07:30packaging of 25 kilo as compared to the best of the product available in the industry now why is that
07:36i am so excited about this product and why is that i would want to talk about this is i have been talking
07:43about being a sustainable organization for the tomorrow how do we add value to the industry
07:51becoming more greener now as i say the same truckload is going to reach the developer's site that same
08:00truckload that same 16 tenner truckload is going to uh you know give you more coverage 25 percent
08:09additional coverage as compared to the best in the uh products available in the market today so that's
08:15where we we are trying to focus on reducing the overall transportation through logistics through
08:21the fuel consumption we are trying to save a lot of time which is invested at the sites right right
08:29so probably like these these are the products which which i would want to look at as innovations and add
08:35value to my customers absolutely the names that you just mentioned uh they come into you know from the
08:43lineage of uh wall putti or wall putti as many of us call it also in domestic parallels and it has
08:50become indeed a household name also uh definitely sir it's a legacy that you are carrying forward and
08:57yes uh as the show is also called meet the game changers your products are certainly going to be the game
09:04changers in the days and years to come but one pertinent question here mr method that pops up is
09:09how does wallplast ensure the quality and consistency across all its manufacturing units that's a big
09:16question i would say when initially you asked me uh what are the strong pillars of uh wallplast as an
09:24organization quality has one of being the the the most important pillar for us as an organization
09:31uh when i said this is the vision of our honorable chairman our chairman started this uh manufacturing
09:41setup in the year 2004 under under the brand name wall plus when he was at the age of 57
09:49now my only point is he came with a vision of just adding value to the system it was not at the age of 57 when
09:58people or think of retiring and and thinking of something very different that was the time he
10:04entered into the manufacturing industry the focus was very clear if i am in a position as an organization
10:11through my products through the quality of my products add value to the industry add value to
10:16my customers it is only then which which serves my purpose of being a part of the industry otherwise
10:24i'm an individualist at the age of 57 i would retire that was the very clear thought of our chairman and
10:30that's where the journey of having that benchmark of the quality was very clearly established as a
10:39culture of this organization all right the only reason uh we have the world-class facility of r&d at
10:47our head office is where i would directly have that monitoring and control over what is happening
10:53under the r&d centers through the innovations and also at the quality level we have a smaller
11:01quality laboratories at all the factories across the country okay on a periodic basis the samples are
11:09rechecked at the r&d center just to ensure that the quality committed to the plants to the customers
11:16is this being ensured right right right absolutely that's where the focus of of our organization
11:22through quality is absolutely it's very important also you know you can't uh leave things for chance
11:30and can't leave any stone unturned to maintain quality one more crucial aspect in building construction
11:36materials is the supply chains what are the wallplast plans for strengthening its distribution network
11:43and uh dealer relationship across india so uh see the kind of product lines today we are in the
11:53construction industry the building model segment as a whole is very uh volume driven and a low value
12:02products that we are in we could sense this as an organization way back and that was the exact reason
12:09we started spreading our wings to multiple states where we could help our customers through serving them
12:17faster and better with the minimum logistics cost involved in it we if i if i you know want to explain
12:25about the spread of our factories we are available in the north we have our factories in rajasthan we have
12:32our factories in gujarat maharashtra madhya pradesh chattisgarh and tamil nadu so through these factories yeah
12:39these manufacturing units all the parts of the country it may be the north west central east and the south
12:46all the parts are being covered it makes absolutely no sense adding cost to the product through logistics
12:54where you also uh add emissions carbon emissions to the environment and then add cost to the product
13:04which is going nowhere but is borne by the consumer we would want to extend that help through these
13:12spread of our manufacturing units and add value to them so that that's how we we could envisage well in
13:19advance and we had started spreading our wings in different states that was the only and the simplest
13:25logic for us absolutely and you have when you are catering at such large scale then cost factor and the
13:32logistics part needs to strike a balance which brings me now to the final question uh mr mehta is that
13:41how are you aligning these strategies to meet the rising demand from the urban sector and not even tier
13:49two tier two tier three markets now i was recently uh trying to understand when we talk about tier one
13:59tier two and tier three kind of cities for me every city every year is moving from tier three to tier two
14:08and from tier two to tier one becoming a major cities okay till yesterday we used to call
14:16mobile delhi calcutta and chennai as the major uh metropolitan cities yes the major sectors yeah
14:24it's no more now right in the same fashion then the the tier three cities which we had that kind
14:31of a vision of tier three cities moving to tier two which has absolutely started moving india in the in the global
14:39hub is one of the biggest market and the highest consuming for in in any product line that we we
14:47discuss and we talk about that's the exact reason because the demand is not just from the major cities
14:52not just from the metropolitan cities but it is from the tier one tier two and the tier three cities
14:59the education that has happened across the country the infrastructure that has happened across the country
15:06is helping all the brands all the industry to reach to the last mile which is the tier three of our
15:14country tier three cities of our country helping them get the best of the products getting them
15:20you know so they they have that money i would say there there is not a challenge of the investment or
15:26the money that they they would have the problem is yesterday the products had did not have that
15:32support of logistics or the infrastructure where we could serve them today fortunately the infrastructure
15:40is in place the products are in place the dealers are ready out there to support and reach out to the
15:47consumers where the consumers would want the best of their the the interiors in their house the best of
15:54the products in their house today making a home is is again the one of the biggest dream for anybody
16:02so they will want to put in every every bit of it with their personal attention and have the best of
16:09the products applied on their walls so fortunately for us with the spread of our uh manufacturing units
16:17and the uh helping hand from the infrastructure we are in a position to to reach out to the tier three
16:24cities and help our consumers get the best of the products thank you so much mr mehta for speaking to
16:31one india we were in conversation with kaushal mehta managing director of wallplast one of the
16:36country's most trusted names in building and construction materials thanks for watching
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