1. At a Glance – The Stock That Traded Like a Penny but Owned a Fortune
Elcid Investments Ltd is not a normal stock. It never was. Imagine a company whose book value is ₹4,65,496 per share, whose core asset is a ~4.2% stake in Asian Paints, and which for years traded around ₹5–₹20 like a forgotten lottery ticket stuck in your old jeans. Then suddenly, in Oct 2024, BSE woke up and said, “Boss, this is embarrassing,” and slapped a special call auction, discovering a price north of ₹2.36 lakh.
As of 28 Jan 2026, the stock trades at ₹1,15,671, market cap ₹2,313 crore, P/E ~17.8, P/B 0.25, debt zero, ROE ~1.5%, promoter holding 75%. Quarterly numbers look insane because… accounting optics. Q3 FY26 PAT came at ₹47.4 crore, sales ₹61.7 crore, YoY growth in thousands of percent. But don’t get carried away—this is a holding company, not a momo FMCG stock.
This is not a stock. This is a legal anomaly wrapped in Asian Paints shares. Curious yet? You should be.
2. Introduction – How Elcid Became India’s Most Awkward Listed Company
Elcid Investments Ltd is what happens when India’s capital markets, family promoters, and regulatory inertia collide and refuse to talk for 20 years.
Promoted by the Vakil family, co-founders of Asian Paints back in 1942, Elcid exists primarily to hold equity investments. Its crown jewel is Asian Paints, held directly and via two wholly owned subsidiaries—Murahar Investments & Trading Co Ltd and Suptaswar Investments & Trading Co Ltd. Together, these entities control roughly 4.2% of Asian Paints, valued at about ₹12,664 crore (Dec 2022 valuation reference).
Now here’s the comedy: Elcid’s own market cap was once below ₹10 crore while holding assets worth thousands of crores. Why?
No liquidity, no trades, no price discovery, and no urgency from regulators.
Promoters tried to delist in 2013 at ₹11,455. Minority said, “Nope.” Tried again in March 2022 at ₹1,61,023. Again, failure. Then SEBI rules forced an open offer at ₹5,000, which got fully subscribed because, obviously.
Finally, after years of PILs, tweets, and investor therapy sessions, BSE introduced a special call auction mechanism in Oct 2024. Elcid relisted at ₹2,36,250. Price discovery happened. Sanity partially restored.
Question: how many such Elcids are still hiding in India?
3. Business Model – WTF Do They Even Do?
Let’s be honest. Elcid doesn’t “do” business. It holds business.
Revenue comes from:
- Dividends from investments
- Fair value changes
- Occasional interest income
There is no operating business, no customers, no factories, no sales teams. Expenses are laughably low—Q3 FY26 expenses were ₹1 crore on sales of ₹62 crore, giving ~98–99% OPM. This is not efficiency. This is accounting geometry.
Elcid is essentially:
“Asian Paints dividend cheque → Elcid P&L → minority shareholders stare silently.”
Think of it as a mutual fund with zero expense ratio but also zero redemption option (until 2024).
Does this model scale? No.
Does it compound? Only if Asian Paints
