HUL added nearly Rs 33,000 crore as incremental turnover in last decade: Chairman Nitin Paranjpe at 90th AGM

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India stands at the focal point for growth globally, said Hindustan Unilever chairman Nitin Paranjpe at the company's 90th annual general meeting. And, HUL stands at the forefront to contribute to this growth.

"In the last decade alone, HUL has added nearly Rs 33,000 crore as incremental turnover and over Rs 9,500 crore as incremental EBITDA, strengthening our belief that sustainable growth is the only way to grow in the future," he said in his speech titled 'Transforming to Win in the New India’.

This was Paranjpe’s second AGM after taking over as the chairman of the company. He said the young demographic, rising consumption, digital public infrastructure and favoured investment destination will help the India journey, going ahead.

"The share of the middle class, with an annual income of Rs 5-30 lakh doubled to over 30 percent between 2004-05 and 2021-22, and is projected to double again to over 60 percent by 2047," Paranjpe said.

According to Bain and Co, India, already with a booming online shopper base, is all set to overtake the United States in the next couple of years. This means that India has both the infrastructure and the audience to ride the digitisation wave, he added.

To capitalise on this, India needs to address challenges like employability, low contribution of agriculture to GDP and participation of women in the workforce. It is also imperative that the nation decouples its growth from environmental impact, he explained.

Speaking about how HUL leverages data to stay relevant and agile, Paranjpe said, “Through our People Data Centre, we are capturing insights and consumer trends faster. Our ‘Agile Innovation Hub’ is helping us speed up product design, development, and testing, in order to launch innovations faster."

Till date, the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company has been able to create a collective and cumulative water conservation potential of more than 2.6 trillion litres. To put it into perspective, he said, 2.6 trillion litres of water is equivalent to the drinking water needs of the country for nearly two years.

At the same time, HUL has also generated over 1.7 million tonnes of additional agricultural and biomass production, and created more than 110 million person-days of employment.

"What is good for India, is good for HUL," he noted.