Chennai, Sep 7 (IANS): Japanese paint manufacturer Nippon Paint is mulling setting up a decorative paint plant in north India, a senior company official said on Monday.

"We plan to expand to the north Indian market with a paint plant. However, the investment, capacity and other details have not been finalised yet," S. Mahesh Anand, president, decorative business, at Nippon Paint (India) told reporters here.

He said the decorative paint business of Nippon Paint mainly focussed on the south.

Nippon Paint hoped to close this year with a turnover of Rs.675 crore -- up from around Rs.500 crore posted last year, Anand said.

Presently, nearly 50 percent of the company turnover is contributed by the decorative business and the rest from industrial and automotive paint business lines.

Agreeing that the company paints were priced higher than those of the market leader, Anand said it was due to the quality and better product features as compared to competition.

The company also launched two new products Durafresh Expert (exterior emulsion) and Spotless Nxt (interior emulsion).

On Monday, Nippon Paint got the 'Green Pro' or green product certification from the Confederation of Indian Industry and became the first Indian paintmaker to get such an accreditation.

Nippon Paint products have been certified based on the quantity of volatility compounds and metals present in the paint.