Jamshyd Godrej-led GEG announces plans to invest Rs 7.5k cr in 3 yrs

Four months after the amicable split in the over century old conglomerate, Jamshyd Godrej-led Godrej Enterprises Group (GEG) on Thursday unveiled a new identity and announced plans to invest Rs 7,500 crore across businesses in the next three years.

GEG, which is into manufacturing locks, refrigerators and interior products along with carrying out engineering and infra projects, will be the new brand identity and Godrej & Boyce will continue to act as the holding company, Jamshyd Godrej told reporters here.

In June, the family announced the rare amicable settlement of asset ownership under which assets were split between Jamshyd and his cousins Adi and Nadir, who will steer the consumer products and agrovet businesses.

Jamshyd Godrej said nothing changes for consumers because of the split, which is termed as "realignment", and added that the company has also identified new areas of growth.

He specified that green hydrogen, energy storage and recycled construction materials will be the future growth areas for his grouping, and added that it has invested in two US-based startups as part of these efforts.

Beyond these, there are no plans to enter into any new business categories, a company official said, adding that it will invest Rs 7,500 crore over the next three years in expanding current capacities, marketing, research and development and technology.

Jamshyd's niece Nyrika Holkar, who is also the executive director of GEG, said that the intention is to make it into an engineering and design-led conglomerate which will be deeply cognizant of sustainability, and also announced that half of the revenues by 2032 will come from 'green products', which will help reduce impact on the planet.

GEG's current revenues stand at Rs 16,000 crore annually and the aim is to take the same to Rs 20,000 crore, she said, without giving a timeline.

Jamshyd Godrej said the organisation has been split into three clusters as part of the new efforts, which include a consumer first business that will offer appliances and locks, a nation first business which will undertake critical work in sectors such as aerospace which is aligned with the government's thrust, and also a 'future first' one.

Anil Verma, chief executive of Godrej & Boyce, said that the business will invest Rs 4,500 crore in the next three years on plant and machinery at its two locations in Maharashtra's Khalapur and Gujarat's Dahej.

This will be higher than the Rs 3,000 crore invested in the last three years, he said, adding that this excludes the cost of land.

Jamshyd Godrej said his group, which does not have a single listed entity, does not have any plans of accessing public markets for capital but added that it may take a call on it if the need arises.

Holkar said around Rs 10,000 crore of revenues come from the consumer-facing business, while the 13 others including those in the nation-first cluster collectively contribute Rs 6,000 crore, and added that the business is not impacted by the slowdown in urban consumption.