The Eminent Industrialist And Chairman Emeritus Of Kokuyo Camlin

Mr. Subhash Dandekar is an eminent Industrialist and Chairman Emeritus of Kokuyo Camlin Ltd. He is also Corporate Advisor to Camlin Fine Sciences Limited and President of Shushrusha Citizen's Co-op Hospital Limited, Dadar, Mumbai.  In an interview, Mr. Dandekar shares some important aspects of his business with Mr. Saimik Sen, CEO, Elsol Research Trend & Consulting.

On sharing his ideas/ products that they have developed, which are innovative and creative, he explained that they are in full range of School and Artist colors and materials such as brushes, canvases painting mediums and writing and marking products. In the recent past, they have launched innovative products such as white board markers, washable wax crayons, water color oil pastels, non-dusting plastic crayons. Considering the need of artist and art students they have developed acrylic based artist colors which are easy and convenient to use. We have also introduced 0.5mm & 0.7 mm diameters leads made out of special polymer resin. These fine leads are used in push-button plastic mechanical pencils.

About Camlin’s short and long term goals he revealed that short-term goal is to increase the market share in the Indian market and overseas markets and to further improve quality standard of each product to match with the recent development in the international markets. Long term goal is to increase substantially with consumer base in numbers and establish direct contact between the company and consumers by launching innovative promotion schemes. He further said that their All India camel color school competition where close to 10 million students from over 5000 schools participated in the competition. This competition has received GUNIIESS book certificate in 2011 as the world’s largest competition.

The distinct competitive advantage of a company according to Mr. Dandekar is:

(a) Superior Quality of Camel products to match International Standards.

(b) Innovative sales and marketing promotion

(c) Extensive coverage of distribution channel in urban and rural areas.

(d) The confidence of trade channel and consumers due to consistent quality and efficient services.


Mr. Subash Dandekar believes that the company will continuously grow year after year both in terms of volumes and brand image due to product quality. Innovation will enhance and appeal confidence of consumers.

Camlin’s CSR activities are mentioned below as per described by Mr. Dandekar:

(a) Conducting training program for learning Fabric painting by using Camel Acrylic colors amongst women belonging to weaker economic section so that they can teach ladies and students through classes and earn their livelihood.

(b) We are regularly distributing school material such as exercise books, pencils, wax crayons and other school painting materials to students from Municipal schools and poor students from rural areas.


Mr. Dandekar gives a clear picture about the core values of his business by stating that, sound Corporate Governance, Welfare of the employees and respect for labor and value in life.

The steps taken by Camlin Ltd to connect with target market are that they establish contact with the consumers for knowing their view on their products through the internet, personal visit and print media for their products. They also hold the exhibition of art students and professional artists in major cities of India for Camlin art material products to give them exposure to prospective buyers.

Mr. Dandekar’s advice to youngsters today in his words “I am happy to find that youngsters are acquiring latest skills and technology to keep them up to date. They are also taking interest in extra curriculum activities and making efforts to improve their health. I am confident that years to come younger generation will play important role in building their future and also contribute to the welfare and growth of the nation.”

Mr. Dandekar’s  best learning from his life is that it is necessary to acquire new knowledge/technique and skill every day from formal and informal sources available to you and should never be content with what you have achieved and aspire to the greater height in your life. One should strive hard to achieve excellence in every activity you undertake and give respect to every person around you by observing simplicity.

Herald global aims to bring success stories of the industry leaders in their own words to our readers to initiate inspiration among them. And when asked about the comment on this, he stated that the aim and objective of Herald Global role is to bring success stories of the industry leaders is the laudable effort because this will inspire motivate and awaken the future industry leader which have potential to achieve success in their respective field.

When asked about his consumer business structure, he said that company’s business is divided segments like School Colour Material, Artist Colour Material, Educational Material such as Mathematical Instruments, Writing Material such as Pencils, Markers and Office products and Commercial products such as Inks and Adhesives

While discussing his fellow competitors, he stated that consumer’s products are divided into two sectors;

(a) Organized (b) Un-Organized

Brands under organized sectors are quality conscious; observe healthy financial discipline and ethical methods in transaction whereas Un-Organized sector brands are unable to adopt the above principles for their compelling reasons. However, there is a visible shift in the market share of organized brands which is beneficial for consumers at large.