From a 100 sq. ft. workshop in Delhi in 1976 to India's No.1 planter brand reaching 250+ cities — the story of Gardens Need is really a story about spotting a need, building a market, and refusing to stand still.
1976: a small start with a big eye for need
It began as Malhotra Plastic in Delhi — just 100 square feet, hand-moulding plastic pots for artificial flowers. The business diversified into containers and toys, but the turning point was personal. My father, Mr. Harvinder Malhotra, loved plants, and he noticed something: terracotta pots had real limitations, and India had no good-quality plastic alternative for live plants. That insight — designing practical, durable plastic pots for real gardening — set the course for everything that followed.
Building the market, not just the product
New leadership brought new energy: Sidharth Malhotra joined in 1998, and I joined in 2000. We pushed hard on innovation — many new products, a wide range of colours — but more importantly, we set out to build and shape the plastic planter market in India itself. At the time it barely existed as an organised category.
2015: the birth of Gardens Need
In 2015, Malhotra Plastic was rebranded as Gardens Need Pvt. Ltd. From 2017 we focused on reach — building a proper sales system across the country. We were navigating a culturally diverse, largely unorganised market, and we chose to organise it: a structured system, a unique MRP discipline so customers everywhere paid fairly, and a level of professionalism the sector hadn't seen.
Gardens Need today: India's No.1
Five decades of compounding effort show up in the numbers:
- 3,000+ SKUs — the widest product range in the category.
- 100+ distributors and 5,000+ nurseries — deep pan-India reach.
- 500+ employees and a 70,000+ sq. ft. manufacturing footprint.
- 20+ brand stores across 250+ cities.
In 2022 we welcomed actress Raveena Tandon as our brand ambassador, to connect with a wider audience and reinforce what we stand for. You can explore our range and story at gardensneed.com.
Our vision for tomorrow
The ambition is clear: to become India's first ₹100 crore company in the category — and, in time, the world's No.1 in plastic planters. A new plant is coming, dramatically expanding injection, roto and blow moulding capacity, paving the way for faster delivery, international quality and new products like outdoor and LED furniture.
And we want to grow responsibly: our future facility is planned around 1,000 kW of solar power to cut our carbon footprint, and we're committed to hiring more than 50% women — building opportunity and equality into manufacturing itself.
Our five pillars: a loyal distributor and dealer family, a dedicated team, unmatched manufacturing capacity, the widest product range, and innovation driven by genuine passion. As we like to say — we are not just a company, we are your family.
Built to Last by Jim Collins — on what makes visionary companies endure for decades. It mirrors much of what we've lived. Find it on Amazon India →
Fifty years on, the lesson is the one we started with: find a real need, serve it with quality, and keep growing. Because quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. If you'd like to be part of the journey, see how to become a garden products distributor in India.