HUL and government can work together on issues of nutrition, hygiene: Unilever CEO Paul Polman

NEW DELHI: India may be growing faster than China by 2016-17, and from a longterm perspective India is better positioned than any other country, Unilever chief executive Paul Polman said. He added that the company’s India unit Hindustan Lever (HUL), with brands such as Lifebuoy and Domex, is ideally placed to leverage Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiatives — Swachh Bharat and Make in India.
“The government has ambitious programmes on issues like food, hygiene and sanitation, smart cities, Clean India, Make in India and energy – all these contribute to the country’s development agenda,” Polman said. Elaborating further, Polman said: “When there are issues like nutrition, we have great products like Kissan and Knorr. And when there are issues like hygiene, we have products like Lifebuoy and Domex. For water, we have PureIt. So there is a great opportunity to work together with the government.”

The CEO of the consumer goods giant who the met the prime minister on Tuesday said HUL would be sharing with the PM some of the opportunities the company could leverage.

He said India presents hope in the global scenario. “Europe is in for a long and slow recovery. Growth at a global level has definitely slowed down — there are predictions that growth will be 3 per cent. But in India there’s positive news. I’ve seen the mood swing enormously in India in terms of a positive perception. Inflation has slowed down from 10 per cent to 5 per cent. There are predictions from the IMF that in 2016-17, India could be growing faster than China.” Polman expressed optimism about PM Modi’s strategies like Make in India.

“Low cost manufacturing is very important for us — that’s another example why India is very important for us,” he added. Foods is a huge opportunity but remains the weakest performer in HUL’s portfolio, with its brands like Kissan, Knorr and Kwality Walls continuing to be reasonably small players. Polman said globally, Unilever’s foods business is 40 per cent of its turnover, compared to India where it is 20 per cent of turnover. “To some extent, the lower proportion of foods is because of our success in our home and personal care business. Our home and personal care brands — Surf, Lakme, Fair & Lovely, Lifebuoy — are very successful.”