India's Grasim Industries to raise $481 mln via rights issue

BENGALURU, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Indias Aditya Birla Group-owned Grasim Industries (GRAS.NS) said on Monday it will raise up to 40 billion rupees ($480.64 million) through a rights issue of shares.

The fund raise comes a month after of the textile-to-chemicals maker announced plans to enter the paint business under the brand name Birla Opus in the fourth-quarter of fiscal 2024.

Grasim has also said it will invest 100 billion rupees towards setting up its paints business, as it seeks to challenge the market leader Asian Paints (ASPN.NS), which controls nearly half the countrys market share in the sector.

Shares of Grasim have risen 14.5% so far this year, outperforming the bluechip Nifty 50 (.NSEI) index, which rose 9%.

($1 = 83.2230 Indian rupees)