FMCG to give a third of our revenues: Sanjiv Goenka

Gross revenues of the group in FY17 stood at Rs 19,330 crore

The last six years — since the RP-Sanjiv Goenka group came into being — have been a process of reinvention through diversification for the younger son of Rama Prasad Goenka. 

The acquisition of Firstsource marked a foray into business process outsourcing. The group has carved out a presence in sport with its participation in two eyeball-grabbing sporting events, the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Indian Super League. But perhaps, the most ambitious diversification is the newly launched FMCG business, in which the group plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore in the next five years. 

In the next five to seven years, one-third of the group’s revenues would come from the FMCG business, said group Chairman Sanjiv Goenka. 

That should be a sizeable chunk, given that the gross revenues of the group in FY17 are Rs 19,330 crore. The various diversifications and expansion of existing businesses have grown the revenues from Rs 7,981 crore in FY11 to the current level. 

It’s been all-round growth. The Ebidta has grown from Rs 1,383 crore to Rs 4,165 crore, profits before tax from Rs 583 crore to Rs 1,368 crore, and gross assets from Rs 16,267 crore to Rs 33,460 crore.

The group plans to launch the entire range of FMCG products. It has just launched wheat thins and foxnuts under the Too Yumm brand name. The quick snacks are healthy and are under the aegis of Guiltfree Industries. But the offerings will expand, going forward. “We will be in the Rs 5 category, which will not be guilt-free. We will launch 30-50 products in this category within May. At the other end of the spectrum, eventually, we will have very high-quality organic products,” Goenka said.

In the FMCG space, Goenka plans to diversify into dairy, juices, personal care, and health care products although in the coming 12 months, the key focus will be on the foods category.

Plans are afoot for other group companies as well. For instance, Saregama will be doing digital films. “Fourteen films are under production. They are all at a budget of Rs 1.5 crore but it’s for the social media, for the web. Some may make a theatrical release, some may not. But the moment you hit 200,000 viewings, you start making money,” Goenka explained.

For CESC, the group has decided to focus on the distribution business rather than generation. In 2011, CESC had distribution rights for Noida, Howrah, and Kolkata. That has now expanded to Kota, Bharatpur, and Bikaner. That’s a reach of some six million consumers. 

If that’s not enough for a national connect, there is always the IPL to ride on. “As a group we have benefited from the IPL,” said Goenka.