Sandeep Engineer is an Indian Entrepreneur and Industrialist based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He is a chemical engineer and is the Founder, Chairman & Managing Director of Astral Limited, which is among India’s fastest-growing building materials companies today.
Sandeep Engineer is a first-generation entrepreneur. His professional journey started as a Project Engineer in a Pharmaceuticals company. With the passion to create a business of his own, he left his job and ventured into the distributorship and after that he ventured into manufacturing pharmaceutical remedies.
Sandeep Engineer had a special interest in Polymers right from his graduation days. After 8 years of business in pharmaceutical bulk drugs, he decided to diversify and venture into polymer processing. He established Astral Poly Technik Limited in 1996, intending to manufacture polymer-based plumbing and drainage systems. In 1998, Astral launched CPVC Piping for the first time in India. There were many struggles in the initial few years because the general acceptance of plastic piping was very low due to the prevalence of metal pipes.
Engineer took up the challenge and put serious efforts to educate and develop the market for CPVC pipes & fittings. With slow and steady acceptance in the market, Astral Pipes emerged as a leading player and maintained a commanding presence across markets with its world-class CPVC pipes and fittings. From this point onwards, Astral grew very fast and introduced many products which were instrumental in changing the landscape of the category.
In 2014, Engineer diversified Astral business by entering in adhesives and sealants market. Astral acquired an 80% controlling stake in UK-based company Seal It Services Ltd., manufacturing a diversified range of adhesives and sealants, and also acquired Kanpur-based Resinova Chemie Ltd.
In 2020, Mr. Engineer established the Plastic storage tanks business through the acquisition of Sarita Water Tanks, an Aurangabad-based company; and also started the production of water tanks with the brand name Astral. Under his leadership, Astral has acquired controlling stake in Gem Paints and successfully entered into the Paints category.
| Year of Award | Name of Award | Awarding Organisation |
| 2012 | Enterprising Entrepreneur | Power Brands |
| 2012 | Outstanding Entrepreneur | Atlas Dychem |
| 2013 | Outstanding New Generation Entrepreneur | Indian Plastics Institutes |
| 2016 | Inspiring Business Leader India | The Economic Times |
Kairav Engineer – spearheading Astral Limited from traditional to modern realms and overseeing all-around growth!
Kairav took charge in 2011 and started leading the brand initiatives and business development. Right from beginning, he focused on creating top-of-mind awareness among consumers and enhancing brand visibility, at the same time ensuring business expansion by entering newer categories and launching new innovative products.
Kairav focused his efforts on creating high-octane campaigns resulting in robust growth in the company’s turnover. The business grew consistently and considerably during the period. The brand-building initiatives started with in-film co-promotion with Dabangg 2, a Salman Khan mega movie in 2012, that earned Astral top-of-mind recall, visibility, and strong brand affinity. The campaign also assisted Astral in reinforcing the brand idea, ‘Strong Nahin, Astral Strong’. The in-film branding worked for Astral because, in some rural parts of the country, the plumbers started asking for ‘Dabangg Pipes’ at the hardware stores! Banking on this success, Astral onboarded Salman Khan and produced campaigns aimed at increasing consumer involvement in the purchase process.
After that, Ranveer Singh was the next superstar who was brought on board to share the same enthusiasm and passion as Astral. This association reinforced Astral as the most trusted Pipe brand in India. The new narrative of ‘ India Ka Bharosemand Pipe’, promoted by Ranveer Singh drove home the message and worked extremely well since the brand already had the trust of the consumers.
In addition, Kairav has been instrumental in carrying forward Astral’s legacy of innovation and staying ahead of the curve. Under his leadership, Astral launched many innovative products and has successfully diversified into new business segments. He also oversaw the expansion of manufacturing capacities across the country and various business acquisitions.
Kairav Engineer is also the recipient of awards like top 40 under 40 Asian Leaders by Asia One and Tycoons of tomorrow by Forbes India.
Kairav has successfully transformed the company from a traditional sales-driven organization to a market & consumer-centric organization, which has put Astral Pipes on a fast growth trajectory. Now, Astral’s product offerings are no longer limited to just pipes, the company has forayed into multiple business verticals such as Water Tanks, Sealants-Adhesives, Paints, Sanitaryware and Faucets. Under Kairav’s leadership and vision, Astral has not only rejuvenated but also diversified its business offerings over the years to now become a one-stop shop for all building materials for consumers.
Saumya Engineer is Vice President – Business Development, handling adhesives business at Astral Limited. He holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in management from Arizona State University – W.P. Carey School of Business.
Immediately after completing his education in the US, Saumya joined Astral in 2014. To learn the industry dynamics, he started his career in the business development domain and since then has spent extensive time understanding the trends and factors that influence the building materials industry both from a macro and micro perspective. His persistent commitment towards building a strong foundation of adhesives business has enabled him to acquire a business leadership position at Astral.
Saumya’s entrepreneurial skills were put to test and further sharpened when he led the integration of Resinova Chemie Limited with Astral Group. Many problems that arose during the acquisition were successfully overcome and today Astral Adhesives boasts of becoming one of the leading players in the Indian adhesives category.
A millennial leader, Saumya recognizes the value people bring to the company. He has been instrumental in building a high performing team of employees to whom he leads, grooms, motivates and empowers by giving them autonomy and providing a collaborative and flexible environment that drives business growth. Millennials are the largest generation in today’s workforce and he is one of them who has the natural flair for managing this generation successfully.
Saumya’s biggest achievement is that he has successfully transformed the company from a traditional sales-driven organization to a market & people-centric organization which has put Astral Adhesives on a fast growth trajectory. With his sharp business acumen and people-centric approach, Saumya Engineer is ready to take Astral to new heights.