Godrej Consumer Products forms joint venture with Swedish company

Mumbai: Godrej Consumer Products Ltd has signed an agreement with Swedish company SCA Hygiene Products to form a joint venture company to manufacture products such as sanitary napkins for women and diapers for children.

The joint venture company would be set up at a cost of around Rs 20 crore. The new company will set up manufacturing operations in India.

"We believe there is opportunity in the feminine hygiene protection and baby diaper market, which is presently in a nascent stage in south Asia,'' Godrej chairman AB Godrej said in a press release. Godrej Industries Limited is India's leading manufacturer of oleochemicals, and makes more than a hundred chemicals for use in over two dozen industries. It also manufactures edible oils, vanaspati and bakery fats. Besides, it operates businesses in medical diagnostics and real estate.

Godrej Consumer Products Ltd is a member of the Godrej Group, which was established in 1897, and has since grown into a Rs 6,000 crore conglomerate. The company was called Godrej Soaps Limited until March 31, 2001. Thereafter, the consumer products division was de-merged into Godrej Consumer Products Limited, and the residual Godrej Soaps became Godrej Industries Limited. This led to the formation of two separate corporate entities: Godrej Consumer Products and Godrej Industries.

GIL has built a strong manufacturing base capable of delivering international quality products at competitive prices. It operates two plants, one at Valia in Gujarat and a second at Vikhroli in suburban Mumbai. The company's products are exported to 40 countries in North and South America, Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa, and it leads the Indian market in the production of fatty acids, fatty alcohols and AOS.