The Hindu Business Line : HLL to scale up Project Shakthi

NEW BIZ: (From left) Mr Harish Manwani, Chairman, Hindustan Lever Ltd; Mr Douglas Baillie, CEO; and Mr M.K. Sharma, Vice-Chairman, at a press conference in Mumbai on Tuesday. — Paul Noronha

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Mumbai, Feb. 20 HLL's heavy reliance on the traditional home and personal care businesses for growth has always been a subject of debate. This year, the company addressed this query by offering a few glimpses into the progress of its new ventures. Of the businesses that are in the experimental stage, HLL has immediate plans for a national rollout of its Pure-It water business.

After a successful launch in select southern centres, the product may be launched in Mumbai this year. Of the various new ventures that HLL has been nursing, the company has plans to scale up the rural market oriented - Project Shakthi and the water business, Mr Douglas Baillie, CEO and Managing Director of the company, explained.

According to Mr Baillie, other initiatives such as Sangam Direct (home-to-home selling), HLL Network and the services businesses (Ayush Therapy Centres and Lakme Salons) were making reasonable progress, but remained in the developmental stage. He also reiterated HLL's intention to focus on the foods business saying "the foods business will remain a very significant building block for the future".

However, the company also reiterated that every new business would go through a cautious and gradual process of evaluation. "The dazzle of new businesses should not lead you to take your eye off your core businesses," said Mr Harish Manwani, Chairman.

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