Till the end of 19th century paint was not manufactured in India. The first paint manufacturing company was started in Calcutta, in the beginning of 20th Century.In first decade of 20th Century, an young entrepreneur Shri Ladhubhai Damji Doshi came to Bombay from Jamnagar to explore the business opportunities. With his dedication and innovative efforts, the first Paint Factory owned by an Indian was started in Bombay in the year 1914, with the production of ZINC OXIDE POWDER on commercial scale for the first time in India. This factory was visited by eminent personalities like Mr. Pat Lovett (editor of CAPITAL) and Mr.Hansraj Pragji Thackersey, and they have appreciated the plant and the manufacturing facilities.

Five years later, in 1919, Shri Doshi in association with Shri Kalkhosru Dinsha Wacha and other industrial magnates founded a Public Limited Company known as The Pioneer Indian Paint & Oil Works LTD. The said limited company had the capital of RS.10 lakhs in those days.

This was the first Indian owned public limited company for manufacturing paints in India. This company had the privilege of supplying substantial quantities of indigenous paints to Indian Stores Departments, Military Departments & Railways. Later in 1934, Shri Doshi was also associated with New Era Paint Works, Byculla, Bombay. In 1941, Shri Doshi , established his own paint factory under the name and style of Star Paint & Oil Industries.

It is noteworthy that during the period of 1941 to 1960, Mr.Doshi developed for the first time in India, Indigenous High Temperature Heat Resisting Aluminum Paint to withstand temperatures of 660'C and this was considered to be a very great achievement because a paint of such a high quality was developed by him through his own research and development efforts and without any foreign technical assistance.

This was the period when our country established Petroleum Refineries, Petrochemical Complex and such other industries which needed high quality paint and it is remarkable that STAR PAINT AND OIL INDUSTRIES was able to meet the mark and catered to the specialized requirements of the giant industrial projects.

Due to this it was possible to save a sizable amount of foreign exchange which would have otherwise been drained off and necessitated the import of such paint from abroad. Shri Ladhubhai Doshi always held an optimistic view of the future of indigenous paint industries in our country and his plans were always wedded with the ideas of self-sufficiency. He was elected senior vice president of the Indian Paints Manufacturers and Allied Industries Association in the year 1943 and on various occasion he had delivered lectures and guided many chemists in the paint industries. He expired during 1960.

Nevertheless, his sons continued the manufacturing activities and not only upgraded the Heat Resisting Aluminum Paint but they also developed and innovated new products such as Fire Retarding Paints, Chemical Resisting Paints, Insulating Varnish, Paints for Air Crafts & Helicopters and other specialized product as per Russian Standards which is used on Defence Air Crafts. The Doshi Brothers kept up the high reputation and standard of their
father and evolved rich qualities of their products which were type approved by the Ministry of Defence, New Delhi for Exclusive use in Defence Production and Maintenance.

With the industrialization in the fields of petro-chemicals and allied industries the need for withstanding high temperature Heat Resisting Paint has always been in the forefront and Star Paint and Oil Industries has endeavored its best to achieve high degree of Heat Resistance in their products.

In the small scale sector M/s Star Paint & Oil Industries achieved success in bringing up the quality which is above all such products, made in India. It also meets the international standards, as well as latest Indian Standard Specification No. 13183/91.