ASTRAL PIPES

Astral Pipes was established in 1996 with the aim of manufacturing plumbing and drainage systems in India.
Today, we cover the needs of millions of households, while adding extra mileage to India’s developing real
estate fraternity with the hallmark of unbeaten quality.
Astral Pipes aims to be a truly global, high-performing organisation delivering quality products and services
to its customers and attain leadership position in the industries we operate in.
Our values are aimed at creating an innovative, high-performance organization commited towards providing
quality products to our customers. These values define our conduct with customers, partners, shareholders,
employees, and society.
 Safety:
o Strive to prevent accidents, injuries, and illness at work.
o Provide products that meet the highest safety standards
 Excellence:
o Be trendsetters in the industry by delivering exceptional performance
o Deliver quality products and services to our customers
 Integrity:
o Be honest, fair, and do the right thing in the right way
o Operate in letter and spirit of the highest standards of corporate ethics
 Equitability:
o Be unbiased and respect individual contributions that stem from their diverse backgrounds
o Accept criticism and promote an open culture that enables sharing of ideas across the organization
 Teamwork:
o Unleash hidden potential of employees by promoting a culture of teamwork across the organization
o Leverage collective capabilities to achieve greater heights

Astral stands for innovation and setting new trends in the piping industry. Bringing newer piping
technologies and continuous innovation in existing as well as new products has been the focal point at
Astral. This special emphasis helps the brand set the bar higher and lead amongst others by example. Astral
is also known for its compromise-free quality and exceeding consumer’s expectations. Right from
introducing new piping technologies to innovative brand communications, Astral’s brand mission has been
to maintain and grow a commanding presence in the minds of customers and to deliver promised values,
consistently.

Astral Pipes is equipped with state-of-the-art production facilities across the country which enables to meet
requirements of various geographies and markets. Our backward integration capabilities for CPVC
compounding (45000 MT pa) enables us to become a genuine Indian Manufacturer. Our six manufacturing
units across the country have automated material handling and feeding systems. Astral Production process
and control is based on SCADA system and we have in-house QC department to keep close control over the
production quality. Our pipes manufacturing units are:
 Santej, Gujarat
 Dholka, Gujarat
  Hosur, Tamil Nadu
 Ghiloth, Rajasthan
 Sangli, Maharashtra
 Aurangabad, Maharashtra
 Cuttack, Odisha
 Sitarganj, Uttarakhand

SWOT Analysis Of Astral Pipes

SWOT analysis is like a formula for identifying Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT)
that a market possesses for a company. The main objective of this analysis is to help us, as investors and the
company, to make business decisions wisely.
By using this method, we analyze where the company is falling short, where it is excelling, and what needs
to be worked upon.
Strengths of Astral Pipes
The strengths of a firm can be positive qualities that help the company to maintain goodwill in the market or
give it a competitive advantage. Mentioned below are some of Astral Pipe’s strengths: 
 Talent Management: Human resources are integral to the success of Astral Pipes in their pipes, plumbing
& drainage industry.
 Rising Returns: In the last, over 5.9 years Astral Poly Technik’s returns for Nifty 500 are about 375.3%.
 Strong Brand Recognition: Astral Pipes products have strong brand recognition in the plastic & rubber
industry. This has enabled the company to charge a premium compared to its competitors in the fabricated
plastic & rubber industry.
 The Success of New Product Mix: Astral Pipes provides exhaustive product mix options to its customers.
It helps the company in catering to various customer segments in the plastic & rubber industry.
 Associate Partner: Astral Pipes are associated with IPL i.e. The Indian Premier League. The company is
the official partner of the team Chennai Super Kings and associate partner of Mumbai Indians & Gujarat
Titans in 2022. Being a sponsor and partner of such a big event gives Astral Pipes solid brand recognition
and increases revenues. 
 Quality Products: Astral Pipes provide quality piping solutions that cater to today’s consumer needs. Astral
Pipes offers innovative product designs, created using extensive industry know-how coupled with the latest
technology to assure world-class quality.
 Strong Corporation: The Astral Pipes corporation has a strong brand name, high-profit margins and
revenues and employees of more than 4,500 people.
 CSR Initiatives: Astral Pipesoration is always ahead to build a better tomorrow for the youth of the nation
through continuously working on CSR activities including digital education programs, women
empowerment, environment and health safety of people in rural areas. This in turn has increased the brand’s
reputation in the public’s eye.
 Successful in its Market: It is the most successful corporation in the pipes, plates & coil market and it is
one of the top companies in India in the line pipes sector. The firm has strong advertising and branding, as
well as recognition from various awards.

Weaknesses of   Astral Pipes

Weaknesses are the areas where the company is lacking behind and needs improvement. Let’s have a look at
the weaknesses of Astral Pipes:
 Declining Market Share: The pipe industry is growing at a rapid pace as compared to the company. Hence,
Astral Pipes needs to analyse what it needs to do to continue to capture the rising market.
 Expensive Supply Chain & Logistics Network: with the changing market, Astral Pipes has to come up
with a new more effective and holistic robust supply chain.
 No More a Monopoly: With the declining cost of setting up a company and building a brand,
conglomerates like Astral Pipes are having a hard time remaining a monopoly in their sector.
 Inability to Pivot: Even after so many years, Astral Pipes hasn’t extended its product line significantly. This
will be a drawback as and when new players enter the market.
 Business Model: Astral Pipes can be easily imitated by competitors in the fabricated plastic & rubber
industry. To overcome these challenges Astral Pipes needs to build a platform model that can integrate
suppliers, vendors and end-users.

Opportunities for Astral Pipes

Opportunities are uncontrollable external events a person can potentially leverage. These are favourable
external factors that could give an organisation a competitive advantage.
 Increasing Government Regulations: It is difficult for the unorganised and illegal players to operate in the
pipes, plates & coil industry. This will ensure that Astral Pipes’ customer base increases.
 Customers Migrating to Higher End Products: Customers are increasingly making choices based on
quality rather than the price which will help Astral Pipes as it has a strong brand value.
 Local Collaboration: Tie-up with local players can also provide opportunities for growth for Astral Pipes in
international markets. The local players have local expertise while Astral Pipes can bring global processes
and execution expertise to the table.
 Strategic Acquisitions: Strategic acquisitions will help the company to achieve further economies of scale
and enhance its product portfolio. The joint ventures between rural companies in India have made Astral
Pipes the largest pipes & fabricated plastic manufacturing company in India.

Threats to Astral Pipes

Threats are the external factors that may cause loss to the firm over time or all at once. Some of these are
stated below keeping Astral Pipes in mind:
 Competition: Competition from existing and foreign players is a huge threat to Astral Pipes. Some of the
competitors are Finolex Inds, Epl Ltd and Mould-Tek Pack etc. Finolex is its biggest competitor and is the
market leader. Due to this ongoing competition, there are price cuts which lead to a decrease in profit
margin.
 Government & Environmental Regulations: The government has slightly different and more strict laws
for the pipe industry to maintain its control over the consumption of natural resources. While on the other
hand organisations concerned about the environment also have their eyes on Astral Pipes’ activities.
 Changes in the Prices of Raw Materials & End Products: For pipe making, it requires PVC resin, DOP,
stabilisers, processing aids, lubricants, colours, fillers etc. All these resources are scarce and procuring them
is a difficult task. Sometimes it’s very difficult to mine in certain areas hence the prices of these materials
keep on increasing and even the end products prices tend to change, this is a backdrop of Astral Pipes.
 Local Distributors: Growing local distributor strengths pose a challenge in some areas since competition
pays larger margins to local distributors.

To Conclude
In the SWOT analysis of Astral Pipes, we observed that Astral Pipes is an established player with a strong
market presence and a strong brand identity. However, to continue being a big player in the market, it has to
quickly pivot, innovate and increase production with the changing times. As the world moves online,
strategies that worked in the past won’t work in the future.