Mumbai, October 30, 2020: Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced a Rs 400 Crore ‘India Growth Fund’ to collaborate with existing and new suppliers to build capacities that will further localise the manufacturing of finished products, procurement of raw materials &packaging materials, and adopt go-to-market innovations and technology. This is in line with government’s vision of a self-reliant India and P&G’s commitment to driving inclusive growth in India through external partnerships. This new fund is part of P&G India’s ‘vGROW’ programme that focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals or large organisations offering innovative industry-leading solutions. With this announcement, P&G also launched the third edition of ‘P&G vGROW External Business Partner Summit,’ on October 29-30, 2020, that offers a platform to existing and new suppliers to pitch their solutions to P&Gs leadership team. This year, in addition to localization solutions, the summit will also focus on identifying solutions that revolutionise go-to-market capabilities, optimise inventory and expand consumer reach of P&G brands.
Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, P&G, Indian Subcontinent, said, “P&G has been making in India for decades and we are committed to the vision of self-reliant India. More than 95 per cent of the products we sell in India are manufactured locally. We also export finished products manufactured in India to more than 120 countries. In line with our commitment, we are setting-up P&G’s ‘India Growth Fund’ to collaborate with partners on building capacities that will further localise the manufacturing of finished products, procurement of raw materials & packaging materials, and adopt innovative solutions that enhance our go-to-market technologies which will enable us to serve our consumers in India. We are confident that through these partnerships we will be able to create an eco-system and supplier network that will further enable us to make in India, for India and the world.”
Madhusudan further added, “P&G is committed to driving inclusive growth in India. Three years ago, we launched our vGROW programme with a vision to create an active partnership platform for suppliers across India. In the first two years we also set-up the ‘Innovation Fund’ and ‘Sustainability Fund’ through which we have invested more than ₹250Crin forging partnerships on new-age, innovative and sustainable solutions for the business. We strongly believe that these efforts have created value for our consumers, partners, and the company.”
vGROW is P&G’s first-of-its-kind platform to identify and collaborate with businesses and individuals offering industry-leading solutions. Through this platform, P&G engages with over 2,300+ Indian suppliers including start-ups, small businesses and large organizations from a wide range of industries and services – from creative agencies to technology partners to material suppliers. To come up with innovative solutions via external business partnerships, P&G has its online platform ‘P&G Hackathon’ which connects external business partners with innovative solutions to the company’s needs, thereby creating a collaborative ecosystem.