Grauer & Weil (India) Ltd, operating under the brand Growel, is fundamentally a corrosion-protection company - it stops metal from rusting, whether that metal is a car bumper, an oil pipeline, or a fighter jet - and it does so by selling not just the chemicals and paints that coat the surface, but the custom-built plants that apply them. Founded in 1957 as a pioneer in surface-finishing chemicals, the company added an engineering division in 1964 to build electroplating lines, creating an integrated model that remains its signature: it formulates the chemistry, manufactures the coating, and designs the machinery, all under one roof. That recurring approach - bundling products with deep technical service and application know-how - explains how a mid-sized Indian company came to serve over 50 countries and count defence, aerospace, and automotive giants among its customers.
Business segments
Three engines, one logic - a surface-finishing powerhouse that supplies the chemicals, paints and lubricants, an engineering arm that builds the plants to apply them, and a Mumbai shopping mall that was funded by the industrial cash flows.
1. Surface Finishing: the complete anti-rust package
Growel is the only company in India that sells the full trio - electroplating chemicals, high-performance paints, and industrial lubricants - to every industry that needs to protect or decorate a metal surface, from jewellery workshops to nuclear power plants.
- The chemistries that coat everything - the flagship General Metal Finishing division makes more than 200 grades of electroplating and specialty chemicals, including pre-treatment cleaners, decorative nickel and chrome, functional zinc alloys for rust-proofing car parts, electroless nickel for complex shapes, and even gold and silver plating for electronics and jewellery. It holds a domestic leadership position in plating chemicals that has held even as international competitors have entered the market.
- Paints for the toughest jobs - the Paints division focuses on high-performance coatings rather than decorative wall paints, so its products line the inside of drinking-water pipelines (approved by WRAS-UK and NSF-USA), protect oil refineries and power plants against corrosion for decades, and coat defence equipment including defense missile systems, aircrafts and battle tanks, with relevant paints approved by DRDO. It operates in a niche slice of a very large paints market, which gives it some shelter from volume wars, though competition is intensifying as new players enter the sector.
- Lubricants as a service, not just a fluid - the Grodal-branded lubricants division sells cutting fluids, rust-preventive oils, and forming fluids for metalworking, but its real differentiator is the technical support wrapped around the product: onsite troubleshooting, fluid-management advice, emulsion preparation, and operator training, all based on European technology.
- One R&D engine for all three - a DSIR-recognised research facility runs over 120 active projects and spends about 2% of revenue on R&D, while a new Technology and Innovation Centre at Vasai was being readied to house more than 100 researchers under one roof, pooling expertise across chemicals, paints and lubricants.
- Sold through 120-plus dealers and a “supply/apply” model - the segment reaches customers via a network of over 120-plus dealers and 25-plus branch offices, and also through a “Supply / Apply” contract model where Growel provides both the chemicals and the labour to apply them, which earns higher-than-normal margins and offers payment security.
2. Engineering: the plants that do the plating
Growel designs, builds and installs the customised surface-finishing lines that its own chemicals run on - over 800 plants in more than 13 countries over nearly 60 years - making it a turnkey factory-builder for anyone who needs to plate, anodise or coat metal at scale.
- Everything from manual baths to fully automatic lines - the division makes electroplating plants, zinc-flake coating lines, anodising systems, phosphating plants, and continuous plating lines for wire and tube, along with the effluent-treatment and zero-liquid-discharge systems that factories need to meet environmental rules.
- A project business with a record order book - revenue is recognised by the percentage-of-completion method, reflecting the long-cycle, custom-engineered nature of each plant, and the division crossed ₹100 crore in revenue for the first time in FY23, driven by orders from sectors benefiting from the government’s PLI schemes.
- German technology locked in for a decade - in March 2024, Growel signed a 10-year exclusive technology-transfer and licensing agreement with OTMK GmbH of Germany, gaining proprietary know-how for manufacturing and operating electroplating and industrial-finishing plants within India, in return for a lump-sum fee, an annual royalty, and a commission.
- Built on the same factory floor as the chemicals - the engineering plant in Alandi, Pune, is equipped with CNC machines, plasma cutters and automated welding units, and the division is led by the same executive who runs subsidiary Kamtress Automation Systems, creating a tight loop between in-house equipment manufacturing and the parent’s project business.
3. Shoppertainment: a mall funded by industrial cash
Growel’s 101 is a 475,000 sq. ft. shopping centre in Kandivali, Mumbai, that earns lease and licence fees from retail, dining and entertainment tenants - a property bet made in 2005 with the profits of the surface-finishing business.
- A landlord, not a retailer - the mall generates revenue by leasing space and collecting licence fees at contracted rates, plus recoveries for common-area maintenance, so its income depends on occupancy and footfall rather than on what shoppers spend inside.
- Occupancy is high, but expansion is on hold - the mall reached 94% occupancy in FY25, yet the company is cautious about expanding the real-estate footprint because consumer behaviour is shifting towards e-commerce and OTT entertainment, which keeps footfall under pressure.
- Operations were suspended by a regulatory order - in March 2025, the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board ordered a temporary suspension of mall operations, and the company has challenged this by filing a special leave petition before the Supreme Court.
Group structure and partners
Growel is the listed parent that runs its three core businesses directly, while a small ring of wholly owned subsidiaries extends its manufacturing and marketing reach into the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
- A UAE factory that just started production - Grauer and Weil Middle East FZE was incorporated in Umm Al Quwain in late 2024 and began commercial production of paints, varnishes, grease blending and lubricant, and chemical packaging on 1 August 2025, giving Growel a manufacturing foothold in the Gulf.
- An Indian equipment subsidiary bought from the promoters - Kamtress Automation Systems Private Limited was acquired in January 2023 from a promoter-group company, making it a wholly owned subsidiary that manufactures customised electroplating plant and equipment for industries ranging from aerospace to faucets.
- Marketing outposts in Thailand and a closed door in China - Growel Chemicals Co. Limited in Thailand is a 100% subsidiary used for regional marketing, while Grauer & Weil (Shanghai) Limited had no business operations and the company applied to strike it off in August 2025.
- Two technical partners from Europe - a tie-up with Transocean Coatings of the Netherlands supplies the marine-coatings technology for complete ship-paint systems including long-life anti-fouling coatings, and the OTMK agreement locks in German electroplating-plant know-how for India.