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Saint Gobain is a French Manufacturing multinational company that operates in India. On June 27th, a case filed against the company to the Competition Commission of India or CCI came to light.
This report, filed by an anonymous retired senior executive who worked in the glass industry, alleges that MNC sought to monopolize the sale of glass to some of its partners.
The Sale of Glass
Saint Gobain holds a sizable percentage of the Indian glass market. The particular variant of glass in question, whose sales are under question, is the “clear float-glass”. Such glass is used for doors or facades and has a smoothened finish. In India, the MNC boasts of a 44% share in the market for float-glass as well as a 19% share in the market for coated glass.
According to the case filed, the company abused its position by forcing some of its partners to buy glass from it, and threatening to cut off their supplies completely if they did not comply. The case was filed on the 25th of May, and the name of the person who did so was purposely hidden as he desired anonymity. However, it is known that he is a retired senior executive who worked in the glass industry.
The report also alleges that the company unethically fixed distribution prices with the customers first and then forced the distributors to make the provision at those decided rates. They also offered significant discounts to customers who bought only from them, as per reports. By doing so, they made the market non-competitive.
The MNC has faced such complaints even before 2024. In 2011, similar allegations emerged about the company, however it was resolved in 2013 with the CCI finding no malpractices committed by the company.
The Reactions
Saint Gobain has reinforced its stand that no unethical practices have been perpetuated by the company. It considers India to be one of its key markets in terms of revenue earned and also mentioned that it is the top company in the Indian glass market. In fact, India is the 3rd best South-East Asian country for the MNC, in terms of the operating income earned. In 2022 alone, the company’s sales generated over 1.5 Billion US dollars.
CCI has opened investigations into the matter and are still in the initial stages. They may choose to dismiss the case if they feel that the required amount of evidence isn’t present to back up the claims. As CCI’s policy forbids them from commenting publicly about cases that are still going on, they have issued no reactions to the said allegations.
About Saint Gobain
Saint Gobain is a French multinational company which started far back in 1665 in Paris. Starting out as a mirror manufacturer, it has grown to produce various construction materials over its long lifetime.
In India, it focuses on glass production and has been functional in the country since 1996. It has a huge network of distributors in the country, and its manufacturing plant set up on the outskirts of the city of Chennai, located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
It has faced multiple lawsuits worth millions of dollars as of 2022. The company committed deliberate violations of the environmental code through its plants in the United States, leading to serious water contamination issues. They also face heat on their activities polluting the air.
It is alleged that the former lawyer representing the company in its lawsuit was fired for suggesting that they do more to control their polluting activities.
