Kolkata-based Linc Pen & Plastics Ltd is targeting 15% market share of the Rs 2,100-crore writing instrument industry in India by 2010. Of this, the branded segment’s share is Rs 1,600 crore.
At present, Linc has 10% market share and the target is to increase the turnover to Rs 200 crore in the current fiscal from Rs 174 crore in 2007-08, said managing director Deepak Jalan. “Our core target group is youngsters aged between 11 and 21. We launch new products every quarter to increase sales,” he told reporters here on Tuesday.
The eastern region, which contributes more than 20% to the total turnover, is a major market of the company.
The highest selling category is the Rs-5 ball pens, which accounts for more than 60% of the revenue, Jalan said. “But we are also focussing on products that cost higher, say between Rs 10 and 20,” he added.
The company has three manufacturing facilities in India with a production capacity of two million pens per day. Two of the units are in West Bengal and the other is in Delhi. Linc currently exports pens to South America, the UK, the US and the West Asia.
Linc has a tieup with Tokyo-based Mitshubishi Uniball pens and is the distributor of the same in India. Linc also has a distribution tieup with Germany-based Lamy pens, which are priced at Rs 300 at the entry level.
“Apart from pens, we have also ventured into wooden pencils which have a market size of Rs 500 crore. We hope to have a good share in this as well in coming years,” Jalan said.
The company has 2,282 distributors countrywide and 20 retail outlets called Office Linc. It is not very much keen on expansion right now.
