HUL launches Pureit water purifier, rules out retail foray

New Delhi, Oct 14 (UNI) Leading FMCG company Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has launched Pureit, an in-home water purifier, targeted at the needs of safe drinking water in the country.

''It's a patented technology, where filtration and chlorination happens together and the water is chlorine-free,'' said Unilever (Asia and Africa) President and HUL Chairman Harish Manwani.

Pureit comes at a one-time cost of Rs 1600. The replacement of the Germkill Battery Kit is priced at Rs 300, and lasts for 1,500 litres of water typically. ''The cost will come out to be around 16-20 paise per litre only. The idea is to make cost of safe drinking water per litre more affordable,'' Mr Manwani said.

When asked if the company was looking at venturing into retail, Mr Manwani said that HUL is a business of brands. ''We would only partner retail giants for supplying goods. We have no plans of setting up our own chain. We will not get into agreements or exclusive contracts with any of them,'' said Mr Manwani.

Talking about the clash between the traditional retailers and modern day bazaars, Mr Manwani was of the view that both can easily co-exist. ''India is a large country with lots of consumers.

It is important to have products in different segments- mass, mid and premium,'' Mr Manwani said.

India as an economy has been growing and the middle class will be a big market in the coming days and this will provide a multiplicity of opportunities, he added.

The economic centre of gravity is shifting towards developing countries. ''There are opportunities for companies who have a presence in a lot of developing countries and there is also a huge opportunity for companies wanting to go global,'' Mr Manwani said.

On acquisitions, he said the company will grow inorganically only if there are opportunities that will support their current product line.

UNI