Roofing Sheet Business in India | रूफिंग शीट बिज़नेस | Santiago

Mr Quyen - Santiago. Posted 03/11/2026

Stack of grey tile sheets on a truck, Vietnam

Should you set up a roofing sheet factory or import finished sheets?

Many people searching for a roof sheet manufacturing business plan are really asking how to get into the roofing sheet business in India. A factory is one way in. Importing finished sheets is another, and for a first-time trader it puts far less money into machines before the first sale. The table sets out what each route asks of you.

Importing does not suit everyone. If you plan to sell many containers a month for years, or want your own profile, a factory may make sense later. For a dealer who wants to test a market first, a container of finished sheets is the smaller step.

What do you need before the first container?

• A covered store long enough for your longest sheet, with a flat floor
• A plan for unloading and carrying long sheets without bending or scratching them
• Samples of each colour and profile for your counter
• Installers who will follow the fixing rules
• Buyers lined up: house builders, steel truss fabricators, contractors, farm and shed owners
• A customs broker at your port of discharge
• Enough working capital to carry one container from deposit to the last sale

Your customs broker will tell you which registrations an importer needs and confirm the duty and GST on HS code 3925.90.00 before you place the order.

How big must the warehouse be for long roofing sheets?

Start from the longest sheet you will stock. Santiago cuts tile sheets to length in 219 mm steps, so a 23-step sheet is 5.037 m long. Add room at both ends of the stack for people to walk and lift. A 5.037 m tile sheet at about 5.4 kg per m² of roof and 0.96 m cover weighs about 26 kg, which two people carry easily; one person dragging it along the ground scratches the ASA face.

Stack sheets flat on a level base with supports close enough that the sheets do not sag between them, keep each colour and length in its own stack, and keep the stacks under a roof. Ridge caps, hip ridges and the other accessories are small and easy to lose in a busy store, so give them their own shelves by colour.

Grey sheets being loaded, Vietnam

Why does a roofing sheet dealership need its own installers?

A roof sheet business lives on repeat jobs and on word of mouth, and roof complaints mostly start with installation. Santiago's 10-year warranty for sheets 2.5 mm and thicker applies when the roof is installed as Santiago recommends:

• Slope 20 – 45%
• Purlins less than 700 mm apart: 440 or 660 mm for the tile sheet, one purlin under the foot of a tile step
• Top purlin 15 – 18 cm below the ridge
• Pre-drilled 6 mm holes, 70 mm screws with ASA caps through the top of the wave over a purlin, 4 – 5 sets per m²
• Never screw in the valley
• Each sheet lapped one wave over the next

Santiago sends installation videos; it does not install. Run a training morning for your installers with those videos and a few offcuts before your first big job, and keep the list of people who fix roofs the right way. A dealer who can send a trained team along with the sheets is selling a finished roof, which is what most house owners want to buy.

How do you fill the first container?

Mixing is allowed, so the first container can match your market instead of one product. A dealer in a town with many new houses may put most of the 5,000 m into tile sheets in red, chocolate and dark grey. One near farms and small industry may want more 5-wave and 11-wave corrugated sheet, plus skylight sheets, which let through 80 – 90% of the light and are used on 5 – 10% of a roof. Standard colours are dark grey, red, blue, orange and chocolate; green, white and purple are made to order.

Order accessories in the same colours as the sheets: ridge cap, hip ridge, three-way and four-way pieces, ridge terminals, eave sealing tile, vertical wall flashing and ASA screw caps. A tile roof cannot be finished without them, and a shortage of one ridge colour can hold up a sale of sheets you already have.

How does the money move in a roofing sheet import business?

There are no profit figures here, because they depend on your local market. What is fixed is the order in which money goes out and comes back. Plan your working capital for the whole cycle:

The longest gap is between the deposit and the first sales. Credit to contractors stretches it further. Price your first container so you can still pay the next deposit if part of the stock sells slowly.

Is a roofing sheet business profitable?

It can be, but Santiago does not publish margin figures, and nobody can tell you the answer before you know your landed cost and your local selling rate. Work it out yourself: take Santiago's written quotation, add freight, duty, GST, clearance, road transport and storage, and divide by the square feet you will sell. A container of tile sheet only (5,000 m × 0.96 m cover) roofs about 4,800 m², about 51,700 sq ft. Then compare that cost per sq ft with the rates in your town.

Santiago has exported ASA/PVC roofing to India since 2023. A Form AI certificate of origin under the ASEAN–India agreement can go with each shipment and may give a duty preference; your customs broker confirms the duty and GST. Ask for free samples first (the buyer pays the courier), check the cut edge for the coloured ASA top layer, and keep the CQ that comes with each lot.

What does a finished tile-sheet roof look like on a commercial building?

Mr Quyen presents, in English, a restaurant in Da Nang, Vietnam, roofed with red Santiago ASA/PVC tile sheets and filmed from a drone. The video also shows red, blue and navy tile samples on a wooden shelf, the kind of samples a new dealer keeps on display.

A restaurant roof in Da Nang with Santiago ASA/PVC tile sheets (Santiago video on YouTube).

Short videos for a new roofing sheet business

Two more English shorts from the Santiago YouTube channel. Each one is about a minute or less.

Frequently asked questions

Can I start a roofing sheet business in India without a factory?

Yes. You can import finished ASA/PVC roof tile sheets and corrugated sheets from Santiago in Vietnam by the 40 ft container, with colours, profiles and accessories mixed, and sell them through your own shop and installers.

What is the minimum order to import roofing sheets from Vietnam?

One 40 ft container, about 5,000 m of sheet. Production takes about 5 days, and a Form AI certificate of origin can go with the shipment to India.

Is a roofing sheet business profitable in India?

It depends on your landed cost and your local selling rate. Santiago quotes per order in writing; add freight, duty, GST, clearance, transport and storage, divide by the square feet you will sell (about 51,700 sq ft for a container of tile sheet) and compare with local rates.

How long must the store be for roofing sheets?

Longer than your longest sheet plus walking room at both ends. A 23-step tile sheet is 5.037 m long and weighs about 26 kg; store sheets flat, supported and under a roof.

Does Santiago install roofs or train installers?

Santiago does not install roofs. It sends installation videos, which a dealer can use to train installers on purlin spacing, screw position and the 4 – 5 screw sets per m² rule.

Read more

• ASA/PVC roofing order checklist for buyers
• Importing ASA UPVC roofing sheets to India
• Why the ASA surface layer matters on a PVC roof
• How to get a quotation for ASA/PVC roofing sheets
• ASA/PVC roof tile sheet

Updated 03/11/2026. Santiago Import Export Co., Ltd, Vietnam. WhatsApp +84 935 391 495 (Mr. Quyen), hotline +84 965 437 316 (Mrs. Ly), email salessantiagoroofing@gmail.com.