We are looking at AP, TN to invest

Godrej scion Nisaba also outlines organic and inorganic growth plans of the group’s various businesses

Nisaba Godrej (or Nisa as she is called), a scion of the Godrej family and Executive Director of Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GPCL), the flagship of the 117-year-old over $4.1-billion Godrej group, is clear on what takes top priority to steer the company to stellar growth. The soft-spoken and candid 38-year-old, educated at Wharton and Harvard universities in the US, displays her aggressive and assertive style in working towards achieving the long-term organisational vision that is set in 2021. In an interview to K Rajani Kanth at Godrej One, the sprawling group headquarters at Vikhroli in Mumbai, Nisaba Godrej outlines GCPL and Godrej group’s organic and inorganic growth plans, strategies and upward growth trajectory. Edited excerpts:

What is your market share in the mosquito repellent segment in India and where do you see that growing with the launch of the new out-of-home repellent range under the over Rs 1,900-crore Good Knight brand?

The household insecticide market in India, which is basically an in-home market, is over Rs 4,000 crore, where we are by far the market leader. We have done a lot of innovations and introduced different formats, and so we are not just a dominant market leader in this space but also a market creator. We call ourselves the mosquito experts.

This out-of-home mosquito repellent range is new. We will see how this grows. Indians are spending more than Rs 4,000 crore on in-home products and only Rs 126 crore outside the house, and hence we are hoping that there is a latent market demand for out-of-home products. We feel this would be a big growth driver. We will start exporting the new range to countries like Indonesia, Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania in due course.

GCPL has so far made over half-a-dozen acquisitions. Is it scouting for more?

We are always looking for acquisitions, both in India and outside. It is a continuous process. We typically don’t comment on mergers and acquisitions. But we really feel that we should be doubling down on Indonesia, India and Africa as we feel that growth opportunities in those markets are huge. We recently bought a company in the US, which is not part of our stated strategy on emerging markets though. However, we bought that company there as it caters to African hair care.

Your take on gender diversity …

Our numbers (women employees) are quite high depending on different companies. Currently, women comprise 40 per cent of GCPL’s global workforce. Our drive is not only to increase diversity but also increase its cruciality. It is not just the numbers’ exercise. For example, in our senior leadership, I feel that we don’t have enough women by quite a margin. Our numbers are between 14 per cent and 15 per cent in the senior leadership. It is on par with Indian standards but I think we can do much better than that.

Godrej group had in 2011 laid out a 10-by-10 strategy to grow its revenues 10-fold in 10 years – from Rs 15,000 crore in 2011 to Rs 150,000 crore by 2021. How has been the journey so far?

It’s been good and we are definitely well on track. The strategy envisages growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 26 per cent. In the first few years, the growth, both organic and inorganic, has been very high but the last six to eight quarters were not rosy because of a slowdown globally and in India. The 10-by-10 strategy is a broad aspiration – to grow 17-18 per cent organically and 6-7 per cent inorganically. We are confident of getting there.

Despite building a diversified portfolio of businesses, don’t you think that the 117-year-old Godrej group has missed the IT bus?

I think it is a cautious choice that we have made. We might have missed a lot of buses but we caught some buses as well. We are quite happy with our portfolio. Consumer products is a very big growth area; agri products is another big growth area. One of the biggest businesses that we are also very excited is about real estate. At GCPL, one of our stated strategies is to focus on personal care and home care because we feel that the margins are much higher in those categories.

Are you considering setting up manufacturing facilities in the Telugu states or elsewhere down south?

Godrej Agrovet Limited (a subsidiary of Godrej Industries) has increased its stake in Andhra Pradesh-based Creamline Dairy Products (popularly known for its Jersey brand milk) to 51 per cent. We find dairy very exciting and so you will probably see more plans from us there. We have our own manufacturing in Andhra Pradesh. We are looking very seriously at Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to invest significantly in dairy manufacturing and other businesses.

Nationwide, we have four large manufacturing clusters. GCPL is setting up a new manufacturing facility in Jammu for soaps and insecticides, which would be operational by March next year.

When is Temasek Holdings-backed Godrej Agrovet expected to tap the capital markets?

We are always working on financial plans. However, I have no comments to offer on Agrovet’s initial public offering (IPO) plans.

By K Rajani Kanth