Procter & Gamble (P&G) today announced a ₹400 Cr ‘India Growth Fund’ to collaborate with existing and new suppliers to build capacities that will further localize manufacturing of finished products, procurement of raw materials &packaging materials, and adopt go-to-market innovations &technology. This is in line with government’s vision of a self-reliant India and P&G’s commitment to drive inclusive growthin India through external partnerships.This new fund is part of P&G India’s ‘vGROW’ program that focuses on identifying and collaborating with start-ups, small businesses, individuals or large organizations 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 revolutionize go-to-market capabilities,optimize inventoryand 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% 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 withour commitment, we are setting-up P&G’s ‘India Growth Fund’ to collaborate with partners on buildingcapacities that will further localize 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 program with a vision to create an activepartnership 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 includingstart-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.