Expect clear norms for direct selling; upbeat on India: Amway

Direct selling firm Amway is pinning hopes on government's bringing clarity in guidelines for the sector as the company looks to move on from last year's troubles and treble its turnover to Rs 6,000 crore in the next decade.
The company, whose former chief executive William Pinckney was arrested by police on criminal charges last year, said it was hopeful of the government coming up with rules that distinguishes legitimate direct selling firms from fraudulent ponzi operators in the next six months.
"In the last six months, there have been a lot of engagements with the government. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs has also taken up the issue to bring clear guidelines for the direct selling sector. We are hoping that in the next six months, some sort of guidelines will be in place," Amway India head Anshu Budhraja told PTI.

The direct selling industry has been seeking to separate the sector from the ambit of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act 1978 without diluting the law against chit funds.
Stating that Amway is bullish on India despite the challenges, he said, "We have a lot of new strategies and growth targets. We are aiming for a turnover of Rs 6,000 crore in the next ten years from Rs 2,000 crore now."
India always has been a key market for Amway and is currently among the top 10 markets for the company globally.

"...But my personal target is to have India feature in the top three markets. I am confident that we can do this over the next five years," Budhraja added.

Amway will enhance local manufacturing when its plant in Tamil Nadu, where it is investing Rs 600 crore, starts production by November. It will also use the country as a regional export base in the near future.
"The launch of the manufacturing plant will give us further edge as we will now be able to manufacture world class products at our own plant. We plan to manufacture all Amway products sold in India at this site," he said.
Even the beauty brand Artistry, which is currently imported, will be locally produced, Budhraja added.