Amway to invest Rs 400 cr on India expansion

US-based direct selling firm Amway today said it would invest up to Rs 400 crore to set up its first manufacturing plant in India, besides enhancing its infrastructure and opening more offices across the country.

The company said it plans to set up the production facility at an investment of around Rs 200 crore while another Rs 200 crore are earmarked for infrastructure development and other operations this year.

"We are setting up a greenfield plant in India. This will be a major project for us. We are evaluating how it will be, where it will come up and other details. It will be finalised in a month's time," Amway India Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer William Pinckney told reporters here.

 

"The minimum amount on setting up the plant would be Rs 200 crore because it has to support the business more that what it is right now," he said while refusing to discuss the details like timeframe for setting up the plant or its production capacity.

At present, the company which sells personal care and nutritional products, has seven contract manufacturers across the country.

Pinckney said that with the new facility, the size of the current production capacity will be doubled.

"As we plan to double our business in the next two-three years, the capacity also needs to be doubled... So the current capacity we have is for (a sales of) Rs 3,000 crore. So we have to make for another Rs 3,000 crore," he said.

On expanding its presence in India, the company plans to add 10-15 experience centres (customer care points) across the country this year besides opening more offices. At present, there are 10 experience centres in India and 135 branches offices in the country.

The company announced growth in last year sales in India at over 25 per cent to Rs 1,780 crore on the back of a robust growth in the nutrition and wellness section.