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Nivea India, an arm of German personal care player, Beiersdorf AG on Tuesday announced commissioning of its first facility in India at Sanand near Ahmedabad. The company will manufacture the emulsion products that includes bath care, body care, face care, men's care and lip care.
The company will not manufacture the deodorant products at Sanand facility, having an annual capacity of about 100 million units per annum at present, informed Rakshit Hargave, Managing Director of Nivea India Pvt Ltd here at the inauguration of the new facility.
The plant was inaugurated by the German Ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, who lauded company's faster execution to set up the facility in record 9 months time against the targeted 18 months.
The facility will attract a total of €120 million (approx Rs 850-900 crore) worth of investment, out of which about 30 per cent has already been implemented to set up the unit with seven production lines presently.
The state-of-the-art production centre also has a research and development (R&D) centre for product development and innovation in packaging to make the product more economical.
"The important aspect of the plant is the R&D centre. This will cater to the Middle East, Africa regions with specific products," said Stefan De Loecker, Executive Board Member Beiersdorf AG.
Even as the company has a successful business through imported products, yet it decided to get closer to the Indian consumers by setting up a unit. Loecker explained, "The idea is to get closer to the consumer and to respond faster to market needs. Our aim will be to provide aspirational yet accessible products with highest quality for the Indian middle class consumer. Indian consumers have specific needs and choice. In future, Nivea will also bring India-specific products."
In India, Nivea sells around 50 million units annually, while about 50-60 per cent of it is imported and the rest is met through outsourced production. With the new plant on stream, the company expects to reduce its imports of products, while the raw material imports will continue.
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