India’s premium automotive and industrial films space has been quietly evolving, with local manufacturers looking to reduce their dependence on imports and build more of the value chain at home. Rising vehicle ownership, growing awareness around paint protection, and a push toward domestic manufacturing under “Make in India” have all added momentum to this shift, setting the stage for partnerships that bring in global technology.
Garware Hi-Tech Films Ltd. is trading at ₹6,494.15, up ₹129.25 or 2.03% on the day, against a previous close of ₹6,364.90. At current levels it commands a market cap of around ₹15,087 crore, with the stock trading at a P/E of roughly 39 times on a consolidated basis.
What the Partnership Involves
Garware Hi-Tech Films has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Lubrizol, a specialty chemicals company owned by Berkshire Hathaway, to jointly work on Thermoplastic Polyurethane, or TPU, technology in India. In simple terms, TPU is a flexible, durable plastic material that’s widely used in Paint Protection Films, or PPF, the protective layer applied on vehicles to guard the paint from scratches and chips.
The company plans to invest close to ₹118 crore into this platform, and it’s targeting the facility to be operational by December 2026. What’s worth noting is that nearly a quarter of this investment, about 25%, is earmarked specifically for new product development and technology work, rather than just capacity addition. That’s a meaningful chunk going toward building future capability rather than just scaling up what already exists.
Backward Integration Is the Real Story
Right now, Garware sources TPU films from outside for its PPF business. This deal changes that. The company is setting up what it says will be India’s first dedicated TPU extrusion platform built specifically for premium PPF, which means it will start making this critical raw material in-house instead of importing it.
This matters because it gives the company more control over quality and consistency, and it should also help cut down supply chain risk that comes with relying on imports. Alongside this, the company is expanding its PPF manufacturing capacity to over 600 LSF, a meaningful jump in scale.
The Margin Angle
Here’s the part that should catch an investor’s eye: the company expects this backward integration to lift EBITDA margins by 150 to 200 basis points on a consolidated level. That’s a fairly specific number to put out in a press release, and it signals a fair amount of confidence in how the economics of this platform are expected to play out once it’s up and running.
The company’s leadership pointed out that the move ties in with building a “technology-led specialty films business” and creates room to enter newer, high-value categories like automotive, architectural, industrial and electronics applications, well beyond the PPF business the company is currently known for.
Bottom Line
This deal isn’t just another MoU announcement, it’s a structural shift in how Garware makes one of its most important raw materials. Moving from buying TPU to producing it in-house, while also expanding PPF capacity, is the kind of change that can show up in margins over time, not overnight.
With the stock still trading well below its 52-week high of ₹7,987, and a fresh partnership with a global materials science player now in the mix, this is a name investors tracking the specialty films space will want to keep an eye on as the December 2026 timeline for the new facility approaches.
About Garware Hi-Tech Films
Garware Hi-Tech Films is one of India’s largest manufacturers of Sun Control window films, Paint Protection Films, and high-end BOPET films used for labels and industrial purposes. The company is vertically integrated, meaning it controls much of its production process in-house, and it has a presence spread across more than 90 countries. It has built a name for itself around nano-dispersion technology and other proprietary manufacturing processes that help it stay ahead in a fairly specialised film-making space.