We started 2007-08 with a manufacturing presence in a single country; we finished the year with a presence in seven.

We started 2007-08 with nine global units; we finished the year with 30.

More importantly, these acquisitions helped us achieve a diverse geographic footprint, a widening customer base and an ‘economies of scale’ that can finally be termed as world class.

In my opinion, Sintex’s decision to acquire global assets was not only prudent, but absolutely necessary for a number of reasons.

•    It got progressively cheaper to acquire global assets, especially in dollar terms,       accelerating our projected payback
•    Our focus is the substitution of expensive steel with alternative lower cost       materials; our global acquisitions will provide us with the understanding of what       products represent the best value from a global and enduring perspective
•    We didn’t just need a rich insight into products that we could re-engineer; we       also needed to accelerate our entry into customers and markets, which each of       our acquisitions has provided
•    We needed to enrich our technology repository to graduate into a research       driven organization with deep innovation skills provided by our acquisitions
•    In the competitive business of steel-substituting plastic and composite materials,       we needed scale that an average exclusively Indian presence wouldn’t have       been able to provide
•    In a progressively de-tariffed and borderless world, we needed stronger       derisking through a manufacturing presence proximate to the markets being       served, a critical success driver in the processed polymer business
•    Our business s particularly marked by consumer preferences, which can often       shift based on cost and convenience. This makes it imperative to be present       across large and diverse market stretches, which our international presence will       facilitate
•    We see distinctive high-cost structure of the developed West, eroding its cost       competitiveness. On the contrary, we see the East-West convergence as an       effective strategy to leverage scale to negotiate better for raw material costs       and to segregate product manufacture based on what units are best equipped       to address them
•    The successful companies of the future will be those that can integrate people of       different cultures and nationalities, understand their aspirations and reconcile       with their global vision
•    It is my conviction that people within companies need ongoing challenges, where       by they can extend their professional competencies; merely enhancing market       shares within established geographic pockets of the same country would have       led to a satiation, disappointment and attrition. On the contrary, our extension       into a number of countries is now being perceived as a learning opportunity,       attracting the best talent
•    A globalised manufacturing base represents effective economic and political       derisking  from an excessive dependence on one or few countries

•    We enjoy our downstream presence across the automotive, electrical, wind       energy, mass transit, aerospace, defence and related sectors
•    We enjoy a leadership in water storage solutions, pre-fabricated building       systems and composites, as well as an entrenched global presence in the area       of composites and high-value structured shirting
•    Our businesses are aligned to the high-growth sectors of infrastructure,       telecom, capital expenditure projects and power, riding on growing government       spending in the area of healthcare, education and sanitation on the one hand       and the private spending in the country’s infrastructure, on the other
•    Our strategy to address the niche continues to be relevant in the textile       industries where we continue to enjoy highest EBIDTA margins
•    In plastics, we expect to drive volume growth through a blend of acquisitions,       new products and technologies, aligned to high-growth segment resulting in
      higher margins

As a result, at Sintex, I am optimistic that our WOW strategy will translate into revenues of USD 2 bn by 2011-12.

Sincerely

Dinesh B. Patel
Chairman