New Delhi, Nov. 11 -- All eyes will be on Asian Paints Ltd, the country's largest paint maker, when it declares its September quarter (Q2FY26) earnings on Wednesday. The key question for investors: will the country's largest paint maker protect its margins or wade deeper into the battle to gain market share?

Competition in the paints industry has intensified after the entry of Birla Opus and JSW Paints, and with Berger Paints declaring that it is open to sacrificing margins to protect its turf.

Asian Paints will face its strategic test at a time when the year's crucial business window for paints makers, the festive period around Diwali, was washed out due to rains in some parts of India.

Paint companies garner about a fifth of their an...