Harcharan Singh joins Shalimar Paints as CIO

Jindal family-backed Shalimar Paints, the oldest paint company in India, has appointed Harcharan Singh as its new chief information officer (CIO). In a career spanning over two decades, he has worked with companies like Blackberry, Devayani International Limited, Alchemist, Care, Hyatt Group of Hotels & Resorts amongst many others. Singh was most recently VP-IT for Devayani International.

Shalimar Paint Color & Varnish Company was established in 1902 in Howrah, West Bengal, by two Britishers - A N Turner and A N Wright. According to the company's website, the company set up a large-scale manufacturing plant in Howrah, the first such plant in entire Southeast Asia, in the same year. 

Headquartered in Gurugram at present, the paints company has a pan-India presence through four manufacturing facilities located at Howrah, Nasik, Sikandrabad and Chennai, regional distribution centres and over 49 depots across the country, besides an research and development (R&D) facility.

The company’s earlier CIO Ashok Jade who held the position between December 2013 and February 2020 moved to Spark Minda, a manufacturer of automotive components and has a major presence in the global automotive industry.
Alongside, Singh’s appointment the company has also announced the appointed Kuldip Raina, director, sales and marketing, Sanjeev Gupta as director, research and development and Rakesh Gupta as director of manufacturing to bolster its overall marketing, finance, human resource, technology, and manufacturing domains. 

The company said the newly appointed leaders will play a pivotal role in driving a comprehensive transformation strategy for Shalimar Paints. 
“We are thrilled to welcome accomplished leaders to our organization as we continue to chart new path and expand our horizons. These strategic appointments mark a significant step forward in shaping the future of our organization, and we are confident that their contributions will play a pivotal role in propelling us to new heights of success,” said Ashok Gupta, MD and CEO, Shalimar Paints.

The Indian paint industry, currently valued at Rs 70,0000 crore, is projected to expand its market size to Rs 1 lakh crore over the next 4-5 years. Most of these companies are driving growth by using technology to transform from a brick-and-mortar business into a click-and-mortar business in the last 2-3 years.