Corporate India must be part of the solution for the many challenges that lie ahead and to reap the rewards of the India opportunity. According to Harish Manwani, Chairman, Hindustan Unilever Ltd. (HUL), “companies need to adopt an inclusive approach to serve and thrive in a country as diverse as India.”
Addressing shareholders at the company’s 82nd annual general meeting (AGM), Mr. Manwani said, “At HUL, we have a simple model to ensure that we leverage the full opportunity that India presents by serving the many Indians within the country. This essentially requires having a portfolio of brands that reach out to a wide section and ensuring that everyone has access to HUL brands.”
Building ‘employable’ talent is key to securing the long-term socio-economic progress for India, he said.
“This is an agenda that has to be addressed by the government as well as corporate India,” he said, adding that businesses which work along with government to address social and environmental challenges will thrive in the long term.
Developing local ecosystems key to ‘Make in India’ agenda.
On the need to serve diverse consumers, Mr. Manwani said HUL’s approach of “developing innovations with consumer price as the starting point is at the heart of our inclusive innovative strategy.”
He said the company was leveraging technology to reach out to consumers in most remote and media-dark villages but also engaging with the digital media savvy urban youth who are increasingly making their buying decisions online.
HUL has a wide manufacturing base of 30 factories across India which have “helped create industrial ecosystems and enhance livelihoods in the communities around them. HUL’s experience of developing the local ecosystems around its manufacturing units offers a perspective on how well the ‘Make in India’ agenda can be scaled across the country to make a difference,” Mr. Manwani said.
