For more than six decades, Hindustan Tin Works has been the quiet backbone of India’s packaged-food aisle - it makes the metal cans that hold everything from cooking oil to processed fruit, along with the printed and lacquered sheets that become those cans. Founded in 1958 by a family that still runs it today, the company grew by embedding itself into the supply chains of the world’s largest FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) companies, building a reputation for quality that turns a simple tin can into a hard-to-replace procurement relationship. Everything it does flows from a single, recurring approach: master the procurement of tinplate - the one raw material that makes or breaks the economics - and then build manufacturing plants that meet international standards so global brands keep coming back. # Business segments Two engines, one core - a metal-container manufacturing business that is the company’s reason for being, and a smaller tinplate-trading operation that runs alongside it, each managed as a separate unit. ## 1. Metal container manufacturing: the can-making engine **The company makes tin cans, components, and printed sheets for leading FMCG brands, competing on raw-material sourcing skill and decades-old customer relationships rather than on price alone.** - **Sells to the world’s biggest consumer brands** - its primary customers are leading FMCG companies in India and abroad, who use its cans for food products and, increasingly, non-food items. These relationships are sticky because the company’s plant follows global best practices, and switching a packaging supplier means risking a production line stoppage for a consumer-goods giant. - **Tinplate procurement is the real competitive edge** - the major raw material is tinplate, and the company has a distinct advantage in how it buys this input, which matters enormously because rising tinplate and labour costs are the biggest threats to its thin margins. - **A two-plant footprint, freshly reset for exports** - the company recently shifted full-fledged operations to a new facility at Panchi Gujran in Haryana, moving machinery from its older Murthal plant with the explicit goal of sharpening its export focus, though total production capacity did not materially change. It also holds land at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, where operations started at a very low scale and the land itself is tied up in ongoing litigation with the state government. - **Fights plastic with shelf life** - the company faces a constant threat from cheaper alternate packaging, but metal’s edge is a longer shelf life and better sustainability, a selling point that grows stronger as environmental concerns mount against plastic. It also works directly with the Bureau of Indian Standards to shape packaging standards, which helps expand the market for the prime tinplate it uses. - **Supply chain digitisation is the internal upgrade** - it is investing in digital tracking of finished goods and tighter inventory control to shorten lead times and improve compliance with customer demands, a move that turns logistics into a service-quality advantage. ## 2. Tinplate trading: a secondary, standalone operation **The company buys and sells raw tinplate as a separate business line, distinct from the material it consumes in its own factories - a trading book that can swing between profit and loss.** - **Not a steady contributor** - the segment has generated revenue but also posted losses, including a segment loss of roughly ₹11.9 crore in FY24 and a smaller loss the year before, though it was profitable in FY20. The inventory is valued on a weighted-average cost basis, a standard approach for a commodity trading book. # Group structure and partners **A family-managed, single-entity company with no subsidiaries, run by two brothers who together bring nearly a century of industry experience, with the next generation already in senior roles.** - **No corporate layers** - the company has no subsidiaries, making it a straightforward operating entity with a single balance sheet. It holds a small, unquoted equity stake in Shree Uttam Steel and Power Limited, carried at fair value. - **The Bhatia family at the helm** - Managing Director Sanjay Bhatia has 47 years in metal packaging, while his brother and Whole-time Director Ashok Kumar Bhatia has 50 years in tinplate trading and allied lines. Their sons - Paras Bhatia, Saket Bhatia, and Parikshit Bhatia - hold president and vice-president roles, making this a second-generation transition in progress. - **Related-party ties that matter** - the company transacts with several entities controlled by key management or their relatives, including Innopac Containers, Innopac ABPackaging, and Innopac Crown Packaging, buying and selling goods and paying or receiving rent. These are arm’s-length relationships that sit alongside the main business. - **A mid-tier credit profile** - ICRA rates the company’s long-term debt at [ICRA]BBB+ and short-term at [ICRA]A2, with the outlook revised to stable from positive in late 2024.