| The strategy in the current year will be to build on what has been begun well, "grow existing brands," according to Vineet Agrawal, president of the consumer care and lighting division of Wipro. This will enable the company to build on its successful launches of last year "" Safewash (liquid detergent), Isabgol (laxative) and honey. |
| Key thrust areas will be soaps and modular furniture. In soaps, the company is particularly buoyed by the success of Santoor, which has grown in volume at an average of 25 per cent for the last two years. At sales exceeding Rs 300 crore, it is next only to Lux in the popular soaps segment. |
| Apart from growing Santoor further, Wipro will be focusing on Chandrika, another soap brand, "which both holds promise and requires a lot more effort," said Agrawal. |
| As to whether the division (2004-05 turnover Rs 472 crore) will be able to maintain the present growth rate, he feels the key determinant for the industry as a whole, which will also affect individual players in it, will be "how the monsoon goes, as also how other sectors fare. |
| "There is increasing competition for a share of the customer's wallet and everybody "will have to look at categories which provide better value." |
| Wipro also lays great store by its modular furniture business which was launched last year. Though the launch was successful, the company till now has a very small share of the Rs 500 crore market. "A key issue will be how to push modular furniture and take it to all the regions of the country," Agrawal said. |
| If IT, banks and insurance companies keep doing well, the prospects for this business are bright. Right now the good news is that the "commercial and institutional sectors of the economy are doing well," he added. |
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