India’s silent Warren Buffett: The Rs 1,540 crore manufacturing trade he has held for over a decade

Nemish Shah, the co-founder of ENAM Holdings is famously private, rarely speaks to the media, and runs one of the most concentrated portfolios in India. His March 2026 filings show why.

Six listed names, a portfolio valued at close to Rs 2,974 cr per public records, and a clear bias for boring, brick-and-mortar manufacturing. No high-growth tech, no momentum darling. Just industrial India.

Two holdings in that book stand out, not because they are loud, but because they sit right under everyone’s nose. And most cars in India, Electric, Hybrid or Fuel, cannot hit road without them. Let us dive in to find out.

#1 Asahi India Glass: The 75% market share story behind every windshield in India

Take a closer look at the windscreen of any Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota or Tata car parked outside your office. Chances are, you will spot a small etching that reads “AIS”. That is Asahi India Glass.

Incorporated in 1984 as a joint venture between the Labroo family, Asahi Glass Co. of Japan, and Maruti Udyog (now Maruti Suzuki India), Asahi India Glass is the country’s largest integrated glass company. As per its credit rating report, the company commands roughly 75% of the Indian passenger car glass segment and around 16% of the float glass industry.

It supplies almost every major OEM in the country, including Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Kia, Toyota, Honda, Tata Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Per the exchange filings for the quarter ending March 2026, Nemish Shah holds a 5.7% stake in the company. At a current market price as on 22^nd May 2026, that stake is worth close to Rs 1,242 cr. That is no small bet for an investor who runs a six-stock book.

The 75% Structural Toll Booth on Indian Auto Glass

Asahi’s dominance is structural, not cyclical. Glass is heavy, fragile and expensive to ship. That makes the auto glass business intensely local. Once you are the approved supplier for a car platform, you usually stay locked in for the life of that model. Replacing the vendor mid-cycle is painful and costly.

That is the moat. And it cuts across both internal combustion engines and electric vehicles. Whether the customer buys a petrol hatchback or an EV SUV, the glass on it is very likely made in an Asahi plant.

Financial Trajectory: Asset Compounding Over High-Octane Growth

The financials show a slow-burn compounder rather than a high-octane grower. Sales have moved up steadily; profits have moved faster.

5-Year Financials For Asahi India Glass

Financial Year	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	5Y CAGR
Sales (Rs cr)	2,643	2,421	3,170	4,019	4,341	4,594	12%
EBITDA (Rs cr)	435	435	761	795	724	766	12%
Net Profit (Rs cr)	151	131	343	362	325	367	19%

EBITDA here refers to operating profit before other income. The trailing twelve-month numbers as on the December 2025 quarter show sales of Rs 4,816 cr, operating profit of Rs 828 cr and net profit of Rs 304 cr.

Analyzing the Premium Valuation Multiple Concerns

The share price of Asahi India Glass was around Rs 318 in March 2021 and as of closing on 22^nd May 2026 it was Rs 856, which is a jump of about 170% in 5 years.

Asahi India Glass Share Price

The stock currently trades at a PE of around 70x and the 10-year PE for Asahi sits at about 42x based on long-term historical data. That points to a clear premium being assigned to the auto-glass franchise today. The industry median currently is 27x and the for the 10-year period it is 25x.

What might be supporting thus premium? Probably capex for a new auto-glass capacity that will lift laminated windshield output to 10 million units annually by FY28. A growing share of value-added products like sunroofs, acoustic glass and UV-cut side glass. And the steady premiumisation trend in Indian passenger cars, which means more glass content per vehicle.

Promoter holding stood at 51.6% as on March 2026, with Asahi Glass Co. of Japan as the single largest shareholder at 21% per the December 2025 filing. Maruti Suzuki India continues to be a co-promoter.

Capital Headwinds: Tracking Expanded Debt and Capex Cycles

A few things worth watching. Sales growth has been a modest 12% CAGR over five years, which is hardly explosive. Free cash flow has turned negative in FY24 and FY25 on the back of heavy capex, with cash from operating activity at Rs 720 cr in FY25 against investing outflow of Rs 1,191 cr. And the borrowings line has expanded from Rs 1,762 cr in FY20 to Rs 2,696 cr in FY25.

So, the thesis here is not free-money compounding. It is a moat-rich franchise going through a capex cycle, where today’s debt and depressed free cash flow could translate into a step-up in earnings once new capacity comes online.

#2 Elgi Equipments: The invisible “lung” of every Indian factory

If Asahi makes the glass on your car, Elgi Equipments makes the air that helped build it. The company is a global air-compressor major.

Incorporated in 1960, Elgi is the 2nd largest air compressor manufacturer in India and the 6th largest globally, per its own investor communications cited on Screener. Air compressors are the literal workhorse of any automated factory. They drive robotic welding lines, paint booths, pneumatic tools, packaging machines and assembly equipment across automotive, consumer durables, pharma and general manufacturing plants.

Nemish Shah holds 1.70% of Elgi Equipments as per the March 2026 filings. At the current market cap of Rs 17,753 cr, the stake is worth about Rs 300 cr.

Horizontal Value Chain Exposure Across Indian Factories

This is the bit retail investors often miss. The conversation around Indian manufacturing tends to focus on the obvious names, the carmakers and the consumer brands. Compressors are a layer below. They sit in the background, hum away quietly, and earn their keep regardless of which OEM wins the market that quarter.

When Maruti expands a paint shop, Elgi benefits. When Hyundai puts up a new EV line, Elgi benefits. When a pharma company doubles tablet output, Elgi benefits. The product is a horizontal capex play across sectors, which is exactly the kind of business Shah has historically gravitated towards.

The company also exports to over 100 countries and has been investing in newer product lines like dry and oil-lube rotary vane vacuum pumps, in partnership with D.V.P. Vacuum Technology S.p.A. of Italy. A new portable compressors line and a global support centre at the Kinathukadavu location in Tamil Nadu are in the works, and the motor plant capacity has been expanded by 50% to cut down imported raw material dependence.

Margin Re-rating and Operational Efficiency Gains

The financials are where the picture gets more interesting than Asahi.

5-Year Financials for Elgi Equipments

Financial Year	FY20	FY21	FY22	FY23	FY24	FY25	5Y CAGR
Sales (Rs cr)	1,829	1,924	2,525	3,041	3,218	3,510	14%
EBITDA (Rs cr)	138	217	298	437	491	529	31%
Net Profit (Rs cr)	43	102	178	371	312	350	52%

EBITDA here refers to operating profit before other income. The trailing twelve-month figures show sales of Rs 3,831 cr, operating profit of Rs 555 cr and net profit of Rs 404 cr.

Operating margin has roughly doubled from 8% in FY20 to a steady 14% to 15% range. That is a margin re-rating story playing out, driven by product mix, pricing discipline, and scale benefits as fixed costs spread over higher volumes.

Profit has compounded at a striking 52% over five years per Screener, while sales have moved at 14%, telling you most of the gain came from margins and cost control rather than just top-line.

Q3FY26 ending December 2025 logged sales of Rs 1,003 cr and net profit of Rs 95 cr, the eighth straight quarter of profit above Rs 73 cr.

Ownership Rotation and Baseline Industry Peer Comps

The share price of Elgi Equipments was around Rs 210 in May 2021 and as of closing on 22^nd May 22026 it was Rs 560, which is a jump of 167%. The last 12 months however have been a consolidation, with the stock down about 3%.

Elgi Equipments Share Price

The stock trades at a PE of around 43x. That is broadly in line with its 10-year average PE of about 49x per historical data. With the current industry median currently around 40x, Elgi looks reasonably valued, neither cheap nor stretched.

For context, the broader industrial machinery and compressors peer set, including names like Ingersoll-Rand and Kirloskar Pneumatic, trades in the 35x to 47x PE range. Elgi sits comfortably inside that band despite a stronger five-year profit growth track record.

Promoter holding has been steady at 31.2% across the last 12 quarters. FII holding has fallen from 29.40% in December 2024 to 23.11% in December 2025, while DII holding has risen from 5.07% to 8.08% in the same window. That is a textbook ownership rotation, with foreign funds trimming and domestic funds stepping in.

ROCE for FY25 stood at 22%, ROE at 20%, and net cash flow from operations in FY25 was Rs 391 cr, the strongest in the company’s recent history.

Near-Term Logistic Supply Disruptions to Monitor

The Iran-related shipment disruption flagged by the company on 20 March 2026 is a near-term watch item, since the firm cited possible LPG shortages and Gulf logistics issues. Management has said there is no immediate material impact, but commentary in the coming earnings calls will matter. Capex on the new portable compressors line and the global support centre is also worth watching, since it will weigh on near-term free cash flow.

Will Nemish Shah’s Stealth Mode Strategy Work?

Look at the two holdings together and a pattern emerges. Nemish Shah isn’t picking the next breakout EV maker. He is buying the structural toll booths of the Indian manufacturing economy.

Asahi earns money from every passenger car sold, regardless of brand or fuel type. Elgi earns money from every factory that adds capacity, regardless of what it makes. One sits on the product, the other sits in the plant. Together, they form a quiet bet on India’s continued manufacturing build-out.

For retail investors used to chasing the obvious auto recovery or capex theme stocks, that is a useful reframe. The biggest beneficiaries of a structural manufacturing story are not always the brands you see on TV. Sometimes they are the suppliers two layers below, doing the unglamorous work, and quietly compounding cash.

What both these stocks offer is something different. A franchise-led, slow-compounding bet on the boring backbone of Indian industry. Whether retail investors are willing to wait for that thesis to play out, the way Shah has, is a different question entirely. A good idea would be to add theses stocks to a watchlist and keep an eye on them.

Disclaimer: Note: We have relied on data from http://www.Screener.in and http://www.trendlyne.com throughout this article. Only in cases where the data was not available, have we used an alternate, but widely used and accepted source of information.

The purpose of this article is only to share interesting charts, data points and thought-provoking opinions. It is NOT a recommendation. If you wish to consider an investment, you are strongly advised to consult your advisor. This article is strictly for educative purposes only.

Suhel Khan has been a passionate follower of the markets for over a decade. During this period, He was an integral part of a leading Equity Research organisation based in Mumbai as the Head of Sales & Marketing. Presently, he is spending most of his time dissecting the investments and strategies of the Super Investors of India.

Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article.