Mumbai/New Delhi, Nov. 10 -- Eighteen months after Birla Opus stormed into the paints market, Berger Paints India Ltd is bracing for a full-blown colour war.

Berger Paints India Ltd will prioritise market share over profitability if competitive pressures intensify, said Abhijit Roy, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO), in an interview with Mint.

"Ideally, we would love to grow both profit and sales," Roy said. "But if push comes to shove, we will prefer to have our market share protected even if a little bit of profit dilution happens. Once your market share is protected, profits can always come back sooner or later," he said, adding that it's not something that the paint maker is worried about.

Roy, who has led Be...