Shankara Building Products was originally incorporated as ‘Shankara Pipes India Private Limited’ on October 13, 1995 at Bengaluru, Karnataka, India as a private limited company under the Companies Act, 1956. Subsequently, the Company was converted to a public limited company and a fresh certificate of incorporation consequent upon conversion to a public limited company was issued by the Registrar of Companies, Bangalore, Karnataka (‘RoC’) on August 28, 2007 in the name of ‘Shankara Pipes India Limited’. The name of Company was subsequently changed to ‘Shankara Infrastructure Materials Limited’ and a fresh certificate of incorporation consequent upon change of name was issued by the RoC on March 25, 2011. Thereafter, the name of the Company was changed to ‘Shankara Building Products Limited’ and a fresh certificate of incorporation consequent upon change of name was issued by the RoC on July 27, 2016.

They are one of the leading organised retailers of home improvement and building products in India based on number of stores, operating under the trade name Shankara BuildPro. As on December 31, 2016, they operated 103 Shankara BuildPro stores spread across 9 states and 1 union territory in India. They cater to a large customer base across various end-user segments in urban and semi-urban markets through their multi-channel sales approach, processing facilities, supply chain and logistics capabilities. Their retail operations are strategically suited to benefit from growth in housing demand, large market for home improvement, and increasing customer involvement in home solution decisions which have created a need for organized speciality home improvement and building product stores. Their growth is further driven by their ability to make available an assortment of quality products under a trusted corporate brand built over two decades. Their staff creates awareness about products and applications, and guide customers’ purchase decisions. They also provide delivery and facilitate installation services for select product categories.

Business area of the company

They serve home owners, professional customers (such as architects and contractors), and small enterprises, through their retail stores. Additionally, in the semi urban markets, they also cater to specific agricultural requirements of individual customers and small enterprises. Under retail operations, they offer a comprehensive range of products at their stores, including structural steel, cement, TMT bars, hollow blocks, pipes and tubes, roofing solutions, welding accessories, primers, solar heaters, plumbing, tiles, sanitary ware, water tanks, plywood, kitchen sinks, lighting and other allied products. They carry reputed third party brands such as Johnson, Sintex, Uttam Galva, Uttam Value, Futura, APL Apollo, Astral Pipes and Alstone and their own brands such as CenturyRoof, Ganga and Loha at their retail stores.

Major events and milestones

• 1995: Incorporation of Company.
• 2002: Received ISO 9001: 2008 certification from NQA.
• 2003: Opened an integrated warehousing facility of 55,000 sq. ft. at Veerasandra, Bengaluru.
• 2003: Achieved Rs 1 billion turnover.
• 2006: Commenced retail operations by opening the first retail store in Bengaluru.
• 2007: Commenced retail operations in Gujarat and Goa.
• 2008: Commenced retail operations in Odisha.
• 2009: Achieved Rs 1 billion turnover in the retail segment.
• 2010: Acquired the precision tube processing unit in Bengaluru through acquisition of VPSPL.
• 2011: Raised private equity investment of Rs 800 million.
• 2011: Constructed a processing facility in Hyderabad.
• 2011: Achieved Rs 10 billion + turnover.
• 2013: Acquired a roofing products company–CRIPL.
• 2013: Commenced retail operations in Puducherry.
• 2015: Launched own private label brands–Taurus, Prince Galva Plus and Loha.
• 2015: Crossed Rs 6 billion turnover in the retail segment in Financial Year 2015, accounting for 31.00% of overall revenues of their Company.
• 2015: Added new product category of water tanks.
• 2015: Listed among the top 200 best unlisted Indian companies by Business Standard.
• 2016: Achieved Rs 20 billion + turnover.
• 2016: Added new products categories–cement, tiles, scaffolding and solar products.
• 2016: Crossed Rs 8 billion turnover in the retail segment, accounting for 39.68% of overall revenues of their Company.
• 2016: Commenced operations at the 100th retail store.

Awards and Accreditations

• 2002: Commendation award for highest sales by Tube Products of India.
• 2002: Best Performance Award (STP) by Tata Pipes.
• 2005: ‘Emerging India Award’ in the category ‘Retail & Trade’ by CRISIL, ICICI Bank & CNBC TV.
• 2005: J N Tata Award as the best Distributor 2004 - 05 by the tubes division of Tata Steel Limited.
• 2008: Star Retail Distribution Category A for 2007-08 by Tata Pipes.
• 2010: Certificate of excellence for winning a place in the Platinum Tier by Astral.
• 2012: ‘Star Performer–Irrigation’ Award by Tata Steel Tubes SBU.
• 2013: Gold Distributor 2012-13 by Astral.
• 2015: Star Performer (II) – Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh for ERW Pipes and Tubes by Jindal Pipes Limited and Maharashtra Seamless Limited.
• 2016: Best Emerging Dealer in Bengaluru 2015-16 by Johnson.