COVID-19 crisis | Asian Paints bucks trend, to give salary hikes

At a time when companies are looking to cut salaries, Asian Paints has said it will go ahead with its annual salary increments.

A company official confirmed the development to CNBC-TV18.

"We will go ahead with the increments for this year across the board to boost employee morale during these times," the official said.

"Despite the challenging environment due to COVID-19, we haven't laid off people. Firing people is not the Asian Paints culture," the official said.

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The company has chosen to go ahead with salary hikes, fully aware that revenues for the current quarter will be quite weak.

"We're watching and devising scenarios as to what can happen in these exceptional circumstances," the company's Managing Director Amit Syngle had said in an interview with CNBC-TV18 call last week.

"We don't see any action happening in the first quarter. Q1 is really wiped off in terms of all the indications that are coming in,” he said.

The company has asked for extended payment terms from its vendors to manage its working capital cycle, but has extended the concessions to dealers. In a letter to dealers last week, Asian Paints offered free sanitization of paint shops, free medical insurance of shop attendants and painters, a 45- day extension on payments due to the company and a 2 percent discount if payment made within 45 Days.

While these steps may not result in immediate financial benefits for the company, they will definitely go a long way in cementing relations with key stakeholders like employees and partners.

Date: May 19