Dabur International, India's fourth largest fast-moving consumer goods company, will set up a new manufacturing unit in Ras Al Khaimah, with an estimated investment between $5 million (Dh18.3m) and $10m (Dh37m), according to the company's senior executive.
The company has set up a wholly owned subsidiary under Dabur International in Ras Al Khaimah, Naturelle, under which the manufacturing and trading will be done.
The RAK unit, which is expected to be ready by early 2008, is Dabur's third manufacturing facility to be set up in the UAE. Its two other units are located in Jebel Ali and Sharjah, representing an investment of Dh26m.
While the new unit will cater to the GCC markets, Dabur is also looking to cover the US and Australia market, according to Shahrukh Khan, head of operations at Dabur International. Dabur also operates a manufacturing unit in Cairo, Egypt.
"We need to expand our operations in the UAE. After studying the economies of manufacturing, we may decide to consolidate our manufacturing units into one place - in RAK," Khan told Emirates Today.
"But we will evaluate the situation after observing for a couple of years how the RAK unit shapes up.We are achieving a compounded annual growth rate of 15 per cent as of now," he added.
The FMCG company has interests in health care, personal care (hair care and skin care) and food products.
Dabur's two units currently operating in the UAE produce skin care and hair care products like the Dabur Amla hair oil, Vatika hair oil, shampoo and soap. The company currently distributes its products in the UAE through Al Seer Trading Company.
"With the setting up of the RAK unit, the plan is to capture the entire portfolio of Dabur products, including cosmetics, oral care, food products and other Ayurvedic items," said Khan.
"With the current output of around 200 tonnes a month with two UAE units, the plan is to increase the yearly growth by 40 per cent once the RAK unit is up and running," he added.
Dabur's international business, meanwhile, is expected to be about 16 per cent of the company's overall turnover.
According to company figures, the international business division of Dabur posted a sales growth of 19 per cent in the year 2005-2006 over the previous 2004-2005 period.
By Shweta Jain
© Emirates Today 2007
