Milestones

1983-84
• AIS initially incorporated as Indian Auto Safety Glass Private Ltd.

1984-86
• Joint venture agreement executed among promoters – the Labroo family, Asahi Glass Co. Ltd., Japan, Indo-Asahi Glass Company Ltd. (its equity stake subsequently transferred to Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. Japan) and Maruti Udyog Ltd.
• Incorporated as public limited company.
• Commenced construction activities at plant site at Bawal, District Rewari (Haryana).

1986-88
• Started commercial production of toughened (tempered) automotive glass with installed capacity of 2,60,000 square meters.
• Commenced supplies to sole customer – Maruti Udyog Ltd.
• Made initial public offer of equity shares. Issue oversubscribed by 6.89 times.
• Recorded a maiden sales turnover of Rs. 11.5 crores in the first year of operation.

1988-90
• Completed expansion of toughened glass capacity by 70% ( to 4,42,000 square metres).
• Installed first printing line to produce automotive glass with black ceramic and heat-lite printing – the first in India.
• Obtained ECE’s ‘E’ mark certification for automotive glass to facilitate its use in vehicles for the export market.
• Reported maiden profit and paid first dividend to shareholders.

1991-93
• Made first export sales to Europe.
• Extended customer base with commencement of supplies to new customers – TELCO, Mahindra & Mahindra and DCM Toyota.

1993-94
• Set up plant to produce laminated safety glass with installed capacity to produce 70,000 windshields to meet requirements of Maruti Udyog Ltd. for its cars for the export market.

1994-95
• Completed expansion of automotive toughened glass capacity by 67% to produce 7,37,000 square metres to meet growing demand.

1995-96
• Completed major capacity expansion for laminated windshields so as to produce 7,50,000 laminated windshields. This was done anticipating an increase in demand of laminated windshields pursuant to changes in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules, making the use of laminated windshields mandatory for passenger vehicles starting 26th March 1996.
• Commenced supplies of automotive safety glass to car majors, General Motors and Daewoo Motors.
• Became the first Indian glass company to get ISO 9002 certification from TUV Bayern Sachsen, Germany.

1996-97
• Sales turnover crossed the Rs.100 crore mark.
• Installed state-of-the-art tempering furnace to bridge the gaps in terms of capacity and level of technology. Toughened glass capacity increased to 11,37,000 square metres with technological capabilities to produce complex glass models.

1997-98
• Maiden issue of bonus equity shares to shareholders in the ratio of 1:1 with 45% dividend.
• Became the first Indian glass company to get QS 9000 certification from TUV Bayern Sachsen, Germany.

1998-99
• Further expanded customer base with commencement of supplies to Hyundai, Ford, Toyota and Hindustan Motors (Lancer Project).

1999-00
• Sales turnover crossed the Rs. 200 crore mark.
• Installed new tempering furnace with enhanced flexibility and ability as a major technology upgradation measure. With this, toughened glass capacity enhanced to 20,90,000 square metres.
• Set up MAW plant as a step towards building capacities for manufacture of encapsulated fixed glass that fixes directly on to the car body.

2000-01
• Installed new laminated bending furnace, allowing greater capability for production of complex laminated windshields. Consequently, laminated windshield capacity enhanced to 12,00,000 windshields.
• Installed CAD station, coupled with fully automatic coordinate machine to aid in the process of new model development and tooling design, manufacture and calibration.
• Started in-house design and manufacture of key process equipment to enhance productivity in a cost-effective manner.
• Started print marking on glass to improve brand visibility.

2001-02
• Made second bonus issue of equity shares to shareholders in the ratio of 1:1 with 55% dividend.
• As a strategic consolidation move, Asahi Glass Co. Ltd. Japan transferred Floatglass India Ltd. (FGI) to AIS, effectively passing on control of FGI to AIS. After subsequent ‘open offer’, FGI became a subsidiary of AIS with 79.6% equity stake.
• Established Environment Management Systems and received ISO14001 certification from TUV Bayern Sachsen, Germany.
• Installed CNC drilling machine.

2002-03
• Changed name to Asahi India Glass Ltd. to reflect expanded business profile.
• Unveiled Corporate Brand ‘AIS’ and started focused activities towards brand building.
• Sub-divided each equity share of Rs. 10/- face value into 10 equity shares of Re. 1/- face value to increase liquidity on the stock exchanges.
• Emerged as the largest glass company in India, with the merger of Floatglass India Ltd. becoming effective from 01.04.2002.
• Total sales came close to the Rs. 500 crore mark (at Rs. 498 crores).

2003-04
• AIS's expansion plan of setting up a third plant finalized. New plant, to be set up at Chennai, to manufacture automotive safety glass.

2004-05
• AIS unveils its new umbrella brand AIS & positions itself as an integrated glass player.
• Declared 3rd bonus issue of equity shares in the ratio of 1:1.
• Declared and paid 250% dividend including interim dividend 100%.
• Completed scheduled expansion and commenced commercial production at the Automotive Glass Plant at Chennai.
• Enhanced capacity for tempered glass at Automotive Glass Plant in Rewari.
• Completed scheduled expansion and commenced commercial production at the Architectural Processing Unit at Taloja (Mumbai).
• Commenced setting up of Integrated Glass Plant (IGP) at Roorkee in Uttaranchal.
• Set up AIS Glass Solutions Ltd. to capture the value chain in architectural glass.