Saint-Gobain Glass India manufactures various types of float glass from its 177-acre world-class glass complex near Chennai. "The Indian glass industry is poised at an interesting point," B. Santhanam tells Prashant C. Trikannad.

What are the current and future prospects for the architectural and automotive glass segments in India?
The glass industry is rapidly transforming. The consumption of processed glass in architectural segment is growing at a fast pace. In the past couple of years there has been a huge amount of investments in architectural downstream processing. What we need now is the presence of appropriate, implement-able building codes at central and state levels, which will ensure the proper usage of the right products and solutions. Saint-Gobain is working with the All India Flat Glass Manufacturers' Association as well as with the glass processors to help in framing and recommending the appropriate rules and codes to the governmental agencies.
We see a huge challenge in the industry in the coming years, as there would be significant excess capacity. Till the domestic demand grows to be large enough to absorb this additional capacity the industry needs to focus on exports. That way we will be able to avoid the supply-demand disequilibrium. Saint-Gobain will definitely be doing that. We have a large international network for exporting all over the world and we would be leveraging it fully.
The market will pose a challenge in the medium terms at least for the next three years. While growth will be there, profitability may not be easy.
What is your overall perception of the Indian market?
The Indian glass industry is poised at an interesting point. Products of world-class quality are easily available in India. The pricing is also competitive. Indian architects and designers have shown awareness of the design possibilities with glass and have responded enthusiastically. The overall market growth is healthy.
What are the challenges you would like to overcome?
u There is the challenge of excess capacity. Whether in upstream or downstream there is excess capacity and this has meant that the profitability of the manufacturers has been under pressure.
u There is also a continuous upward spiral in the cost of inputs and energy. This has meant that the costs have been going up faster than the revenues.
u There is also a tremendous pace of new capacity creation in downstream - while the real capacity utilisation has been poor.
All the above taken together means that, while the demand side is not seen to be a major problem, profitability will be under considerable pressure - both in the upstream as well as the downstream. Further capacity addition will have to be evaluated carefully as the latest entrants usually do so with the highest cost structure.
It would be interesting to see how the industry copes with these opportunities and challenges in the next few years.
Unlike in the past, glass plays a very significant role in the building and construction industry today. How has quality and customer perception of glass changed?
Glass is becoming an increasingly popular building material the world over, and India is no exception. Part of the reason for the increasing popularity is its transparency. Glass helps people to see through, to stay in touch and to communicate. It connotes openness: an important trend in contemporary architecture. And today there is so much more possible with glass because of technological advantages - in terms of enhanced strength, increased safety, superior acoustics, exceptional energy control, excellent daylighting etc., that it is but natural that architects are exploring what all is possible with the functionality of glass. And on the aesthetics front glass has always scored high in terms of embellishing to the beauty of any architectural creation.
Glass reduces the weight on the foundations and makes for a lighter building. It can reduce the weight on the foundation by 12 times when used instead of a brick wall. It reduces maintenance costs and makes for a comfortable environment. It optimises the use of natural light, thereby not only making it more comfortable for occupants but also reducing the use of electricity. Today glass solutions offer a wide range of energy control possibilities - one can cut the heat coming into the buildings in warm climates or reduce the heat seeping out in cold climates or even do both in places with extremes of temperature between summer and winter.
Use of glass 'creates space'—not only does it bring the external environment, the skies and greenery outside, into the spaces within the building, it opens up spaces inside. If vaulting roofs create a sense of space, so do glass panelled cabins and cubicles. Studies have found that the increased comfort that arises boosts work productivity.
Glass is today no longer considered fragile like it was a couple of decades ago. This is because through usage of the right processed glass (like tempered glass or laminated glass) one can make glass which is stronger, safer and more secure. The processing technology for architectural glass is widely available in India - the investments in this sector are huge and today the Indian glass processing industry has the machinery and capability to take on projects of international scope in terms of complexity and quality.
Saint-Gobain Glass India has so far invested Rs 1,500 crore in its manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. What does this expansion mean for the company?
We are now ready to take up our next phase of expansion. We want to finalise the location in the next couple of months.