A story of 70 years: Atul serving diverse industries, touching lives with quality products, services
Mar 26, 2021
Gandhinagar (Gujarat) [India], March 26 (ANI/NewsVoir): Atul Ltd. (Atul) was established on September 5, 1947, by Kasturbhai Lalbhai to make the country self-reliant in its requirement of chemicals and to generate large-scale employment in rural India.
Ever since the Company commenced operations, it has conducted business with a larger purpose.
Atul is serving a wide range of customers across several industries with quality products and services. The actions of the Company are guided by internalising knowledge and developments in science and technology and an aspiration to continuously improve.
In 1947, the same year in which it was founded, Atul established Cyanamid India Ltd., a joint venture company with the American Cyanamid Company of the USA to produce crop protection chemicals and pharmaceuticals. The Company formed a joint venture company Atic Industries Ltd. with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) plc of the UK to produce textile dyestuffs in 1955. The dyes of Atul had invariably adorned the national flag then, which was a matter of pride for the Company and its patriotic founder. This was followed by the establishment of Cibatul Ltd. with Ciba-Geigy Ltd. (Ciba-Geigy) of Switzerland in 1960 to produce epoxy resins and curing agents.
Atul Rural Development Fund was set in 1978 to formalize initiatives related to serving society that was undertaken by Atul since its inception.
During the next decade, in 1985, Atul acquired a controlling stake in Piramal Rasayan Ltd., a company engaged in the production of dye intermediates, and renamed it Amal Ltd. In 1988, Atul acquired Gujarat Aromatics Ltd. through a reverse merger and got its second production site at Ankleshwar. In 1996 and 1999, Atul undertook mergers of Atic and Cibatul respectively after the exit of joint venture partners - The joint ventures lasted till the partners were in business and their parent companies in operation worldwide.
Atul made its first acquisition out of India in 2010 by acquiring DPD Ltd. in the UK, one of the pioneers and the market leader in tissue culture raised date palm plants in the world. In the same year, it acquired Anchor Adhesives Pvt. Ltd. which owned Polygrip, a leading rubber and polyurethane-based adhesive brand in India.
Keeping with this tradition, Atul, in 2011, established Rudolf Atul Chemicals Ltd., a joint venture company with Rudolf GmbH of Germany, a market leader in the business of speciality textile chemicals, to manufacture and market textile chemicals in India. Furthermore, in the year 2017, it established yet another joint venture entity Anaven LLP with Nouryon of the Netherlands to produce Monochloro acetic acid, which is used to manufacture crop protection chemicals.
Atul has many firsts in terms of manufacturing for the first time in India - from textile dyes to tissue culture raised date palm plants. Acquisitions and collaborations have resulted in a basket of diverse products | product groups that serve customers of Atul belonging to 30 industries. It manufactures 900 products and 400 formulations and owns around 140 brands.
Few of the prominent products | product groups offered by Atul include para Cresol, para Anisic aldehyde, para Cresidine, Resorcinol formaldehyde resins, 1,3 Cyclohexanedione, Vat Green 1, Vat Red 10, Vat Brown 1, Sulphur Black, Pigment Red 168, Pigment Yellow 139, 2,4-Dichloro phenoxy acid and its derivatives, Chlorimuron ethyl, Isoprothiolane, Indoxacarb, Propoxur, Sulfosulfuron, APIs - Venlafaxine HCl, Desvenlafaxine succinate, Valacyclovir HCl, Acyclovir, Fluconazole, API intermediates - Phenyl chloroformate and CBZ-L-valine, 3,3' and 4,4' Diaminodiphenyl sulphone, multi-functional resins (tri-functional and tetra functional), epoxy systems for infusion, hand layup and adhesives for wind turbine blades, epoxy phenol novolac resins and reactive diluents (aliphatic, aromatic, mono, di and trifunctional).
Atul predominantly serves the following industries - Agriculture, Adhesives, Animal Feed, Automobile, Composites, Construction, Cosmetic, Defence, Dyestuff, Electrical and Electronics, Footwear, Food, Fragrance and Flavour, Glass, Home Care, Horticulture, Hospitality, Paint and Coatings, Paper, Personal Care, Pharmaceutical, Rubber, Soap and Detergent, Sport and Leisure, Textile, Tyre and Wind Energy industries.
Atul is preparing itself for the future and is investing in the sustainable growth of the Company and its subsidiary, JV and associate's entities. As per its 2019-20 annual report, Rs 235 Cr. is the value of capital work-in-progress on a standalone basis and Rs 368 Cr. on a consolidated basis. The Company is debt-free at present.
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