Avro India Limited, founded in 2002 by Sushil Kumar Aggarwal, is one of India’s leading manufacturers of plastic-moulded furniture and a pioneer in the country’s plastic recycling ecosystem. Listed on the NSE Emerge platform (MSME segment), the company has grown from a single-machine operation in Ghaziabad into a national enterprise with a production capacity of over 20,000 pieces per day, a portfolio of more than 300 product stock-keeping units (SKUs), and a distribution network spanning 30,000+ retailers and 300+ distributors across 24 states. Built on a strong recycling backbone, the company converts post-consumer and industrial plastic waste into high-grade granules, which are then used to manufacture durable, affordable plastic-moulded furniture, including chairs, tables, cabinets and stools designed for versatile indoor and outdoor use.
The plastics industry remains a critical enabler of modern supply chains, spanning packaging, healthcare, construction, mobility and electronics. However, it is under intense scrutiny due to rising concerns about marine pollution, microplastic contamination and long-term environmental impact. For all its growth, India’s plastics industry faces a mounting waste crisis. India accounts for approximately 20 per cent of the world’s plastic emissions, totalling around 9.3 million metric tonnes annually. The waste plastic recycling market stood at 10.9 million tonnes in 2024 and is expected to reach 25.4 million tonnes by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 9.37 per cent. Even as demand continues to grow in India, waste management systems remain fragmented and unevenly enforced. A large portion of plastic waste still flows through the informal sector, leading to inefficiencies in collection, segregation and processing. Currently, one-third of scrap in India originates from rag-pickers, households and small workshops.
The challenges
While Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) recycling has matured, with over 90 per cent recovery rates driven by organised players, the recycling of polypropylene (PP), HDPE and LDPE remains vastly underdeveloped. A significant challenge lies in securing consistent-quality raw material, as plastic waste collection and segregation are largely informal and price-sensitive. Fluctuations in scrap availability and volatility in polymer prices directly affect production planning and margins.
In the finished goods segment of plastic furniture, competition is intense and largely price-driven. Numerous small manufacturers operate with limited compliance and lower overheads, creating uneven competitive conditions for organised players investing in technology, quality control and brand building. The government's focus on circular economy principles, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) norms and restrictions on single-use plastics is accelerating the shift towards sustainable materials and formalised recycling ecosystems.
Sushil Kumar Aggarwal, Chairman and Whole-Time Director, Avro India, began working at the age of 13, took over his father’s bicycle parts business at 14, and went on to build and navigate over 15 ventures across diverse sectors, including India’s largest private-sector LPG bottling plant in the early 1990s. In 2002, with no prior experience in plastics, he founded Avro India and led the use of recycled plastic to manufacture affordable, quality furniture, creating an entirely new market vertical in the process. With over five decades of entrepreneurial experience and 24 years in the plastics industry, he is recognised as a leading voice in India’s MSME and recycling sectors and is widely known within the industry as the ‘Daddy of Plastics’. “Plastic waste is not the problem; mismanaged plastic waste is. With the right technology, scale and intent, even the most complex waste streams can be transformed into valuable raw material. Our mission is to formalise this ecosystem and prove that sustainability and profitability can coexist,” states Aggarwal on Avro’s vision.
In 2025, Avro took its commitment to sustainability a step further by launching Avro Recycling Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary equipped with advanced technologies sourced from China and Germany. The plant processes complex waste streams – cement bags, salt bags and contaminated packaging – that much of the industry considers non-recyclable. With an initial capacity of 500 MTPM, scalable to 1,000 MTPM, and a cumulative planned investment of Rs55 crore by FY2027, the plant addresses difficult-to-process plastic waste such as cement, sugar and salt bags, which were historically downcycled or left to the unorganised sector. Through proprietary upcycling technology developed over 3 years, Avro converts complex waste into high-grade recycled granules used in furniture, appliances and automotive components, offering up to 40 per cent cost advantage over virgin plastic.
The plant’s output – high-grade recycled granules – is fully traceable and engineered to meet durability and performance standards required for furniture, appliances and industrial applications. Strategically, Avro Recycling reduces dependence on virgin polymer linked to crude oil price volatility, strengthens margin stability and enhances ESG positioning. The company’s planned plant network across India aims to decentralise waste aggregation and processing, improving logistics efficiency while formalising the value chain. Through scale, technology and compliance alignment, Avro Recycling is transitioning plastic waste from a low-value liability into a structured, high-volume industrial input, reinforcing its role as a leading organised player in India’s circular plastics economy.
Avro’s expertise in recycled plastic manufacturing was not built overnight. It was forged through years of trial, error and significant financial risk. What began as a backward integration strategy to control raw material costs for the furniture business evolved into something far larger once the team realised the scale of the opportunity. According to Nikhil Aggarwal, elder son of Aggarwal, the journey involved importing machines that proved difficult to adapt, absorbing sunk costs that a listed company would typically avoid, and pushing through repeated challenges in scaling from pilot to commercial production. “In the last few years, we’ve been trying to perfect that experience: a lot of research and experimentation, which as a listed company, we perhaps should not do,” Nikhil admits candidly. But it is precisely this willingness to take unconventional bets that has given Avro a leg up on its competitors.
The real edge
The company operates across the full recycling value chain. Nikhil sees this as at least a six-month head start over anyone attempting to follow, because while competitors may copy the concept, the process knowledge, supply chain relationships and hard-won understanding of how to scale recycled plastic commercially cannot be replicated overnight. For him, the real edge lies not in any single machine or technology, but in the ecosystem Avro has built over two decades. Recycling is no longer a side business; it is positioned as the company’s future: potentially bigger than furniture itself.
Meanwhile, in a natural extension of its core plastics capability, Avro India is preparing to enter the air cooler manufacturing segment, a new vertical being spearheaded by Sahil Aggarwal, the founder’s second son. The move is rooted in operational synergy. Avro’s existing dealer and distributor network already handles air coolers, making this more of a product line addition. Operationally, the transition is equally seamless; Avro’s existing injection moulding machines can manufacture cooler bodies with only a change of moulds, eliminating the need for a separate manufacturing setup. As India’s air cooler industry migrates from mild steel bodies to plastic, Avro is well positioned to ride this transition with a decisive cost advantage.
Avro India’s story is ultimately one of compounding advantages: two decades of working with recycled plastic, absorbing failures that sharpened process knowledge, and building relationships across a supply chain that remains largely informal for much of the industry. As the gap between plastic consumption and recycling capacity continues to widen, Avro stands among the few organised players with the technology, scale and track record to meet that demand. Under the leadership of the next generation, Nikhil and Sahil Aggarwal, the company is transitioning from a regional furniture manufacturer into a platform business for India’s circular plastics future.
“People carry misconceptions about plastic; they see it as the villain. But the real problem is not plastic itself; it is how we manage it after use. Get the recycling right, and it becomes a fortune – not just for Avro, but for the entire ecosystem and the country,” says Aggarwal with conviction.