Gillette India Ltd

History of Gillette India Ltd

Gillette India Limited, was formerly incorporated in India as Indian Shaving Products Limited in February, 1984. The Company was later on changed from Indian Shaving Products Limited to Gillette India Limited effective on 23 November, 2000. The Company is engaged in manufacturing and selling of branded packaged fast moving consumer goods in the grooming and oral care businesses. Its products are sold through retail operations including mass merchandisers, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, department stores and high frequency stores. Their manufacturing facilities are located at Bhiwadi in Rajasthan and Baddi in Himachal Pradesh, apart from third party manufacturing locations spread across India. The company operates in two segments, namely Personal Grooming and Oral Care. Personal Grooming segment includes blades, razors and toiletries. Oral Care segment includes toothbrushes and oral care products. During the year 1990-91, the company completed the capacity expansion for manufacturing of 7 O' Clock Ejtek PII Twin Blade Shaving System. In February 1993, the company commenced the launch of Gillette Shaving Products in India with the launch of Gillette Presto Readyshaver. During the year 1995-96, the company launched Readyshaver under the Brand Name of 7 O'clock Ready II. They also launched toothbrushes in the well-known international brand name Oral B under a distribution agreement. In January 2000, Duracell (India) and Wilkinson Sword India me ...rged with the company and was renamed as Gillette India Ltd. In the year 2001, the company launched the Gillette Series Arctic Ice Line of products and undertook a series of very successful consumer promotions across product lines. They also launched the Gillette Series Satin Care for Women Wild Berry Line, the Cool Blue Mach 3 and Gillette Centennial Packs during the year. In the year 2003, the company launched Power Oral Care toothbrushes, Ultra M 3 AA batteries and Gillette Vector Plus. In the year 2004, they launched the next generation triple blade shaving system, Gillette Mach3 Turbo. Also, they launched new Gillette Series Tube Shave Gel variants, namely Sensitive Skin and Moisturizing, to suit different skin types. In October 2005, the Procter & Gamble Company, USA acquired the Gillette Company, USA creating the largest consumer products company in the world. In India, the company while continuing as a separate legal entity will be part of the Procter & Gamble Company, USA. The company operated under P&G' s unique & proven structure of Global Business Unit (GBU), Market Development Organization (MDO), Global Business Services (GBS) and work process, which gave P&G's competitive advantage. During the year 2006-07, the company set up a new manufacturing facility at Baddi in Himachal Pradesh for manufacturing and packaging operations of blades and razors. This unit commenced their production in March 2007. On 20 June 2007, Gillette India informed the stock exchanges that the company has sold its immovable property, namely its General Offices at 5 to 9 floors at Global Business Park, Tower A, Mehrauli Gurgaon Road, Gurgaon for a total sum of Rs 72.75 crore. The Book Value of the said immovable property is Rs 30.54 crore as on 31 May 2007. Gillette Guard, the Entry Level razor, specially designed for low-income group consumers, was launched in October 2010. On 21 November 2013, Gillette India informed the stock exchanges that the company has received two letters dated 19 November 2013 from Procter & Gamble India Holdings B.V. (PGIHBV), a promoter of the company, and the Poddar Heritage Group (representing promoter/promoter group individuals and entities under the Poddar Heritage Group) (collectively the Sellers) intimating that the Sellers have completed the offer for sale of 28.57 lakh equity shares of the company through the Stock Exchange Mechanism on 13 November 2013, the settlement for which has been completed on 19 November 2013. During the financial year ended 30 June 2014, the company launched New Gillette Vector-3 in the Mid-Tier Blades & Razor segment. The company also expanded its Female Hair Removal (FHR) portfolio with the launch of New Gillette Venus with 3-blades and soft protective cushions, specially designed for women along with Satin Care Gel and Venus Oceana Disposables. On 7 November 2015, Gillette India announced that Procter & Gamble International Operations S.A. has informed the company that the company should continue to act as the distributor of Duracell' batteries till 29 February 2016 or any other date agreed between the parties. Earlier, Gillette India had received intimation from Procter & Gamble International Operations S.A. for termination of the distribution agreement for Duracell' batteries with the company effective 29 January 2016. The Procter & Gamble Company U.S.A has decided to globally divest the business of Duracell. Gillette India has been acting as an authorized distributor of Duracell batteries pursuant to an arrangement entered into with its affiliate company, Procter & Gamble International Operations S.A. During the financial year ended 30 June 2016, Gillette brought to India its most advanced razor 'Fusion Pro Glide with Flexball Technology'. During the financial year ended 30 June 2017, Oral-B toothbrush brand launched electric rechargeable toothbrushes. In FY 2016, on Gillette Mach3, the biggest systems franchise, the company completed the first-ever blade and product upgrades since launch across its variants, viz., Mach3, Sensitive and Turbo with a bold new promise of 'Better than an ordinary 2-bladed razor even after 5 weeks'. The Company had been acting as an authorized distributor of 'Duracell' batteries pursuant to an arrangement entered into with its affiliate company, Procter & Gamble International Operations S.A. During the Financial Year, The Procter & Gamble Company, U.S.A. decided to globally divest the business of 'Duracell', As a result of such divestiture, Procter & Gamble International Operations S.A. terminated the distributor arrangement entered into with the Company effective February 29, 2016. In the Men's Grooming business, Gillette continues to be the market leader. The Company had put strong Go-to-market plans & made strategic portfolio choices to strengthen the total grooming portfolio in FY 2017. In the brand's female portfolio Venus (World's No 1 selling Women's razor), the Company launched next innovation, Venus Breeze, a 2 in 1 product with moisturizing gel bars. Venus continued to deliver high double-digit growth behind strong awareness and in-store executions during FY 2017. Oral- B launched electric rechargeable toothbrushes. The Company had several strong innovations on manual toothbrushes like the launch of Pro-Health Anti-Bacterial toothbrush, Ultrathin Sensitive toothbrush range and Cavity Defense Black. All these innovations were received extremely well by the consumers and trades helping the Company to further establish its product superiority. Oral-B further strengthened its partnership with dentists, to promote oral health awareness via the free dental checkup program. Oral-B brushes continue to be the most recommended and used toothbrush brand among dentists in India in FY 2017. During the FY2019, the Company had given a loan of Rs 100 crore to one of its felllow subsidiaries, Gillette Diversified Operations Private Limited for business purpose. The repayment of the said loan has been received during the Financial Year. During the FY2020, at Company's Bhiwadi plant, a capital investment to the tune of approximately Rs 1 crore was made in procuring energy efficient compressors to fulfill site requirements, leading to projected savings of approx. 700,000 KWH of power per year. Also at Company's Baddi plant, capital investment of approximately Rs 9 lakhs was made towards AHU refurbishment project for optimization in use of electrical systems. During the year 2019-20,as a result of the nationwide lockdown imposed by the Government of India in view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the operations of the Company were temporarily disrupted at its manufacturing, warehouse and distribution locations from second half of March 2020. The operations have gradually resumed in a phased manner in line with the Government directives issued from time to time. In 2020-21, the Company into grooming business launched a three blade system razor, Gillette Guard 3; launched King C Gillette, a premium range of unparalleled grooming products; launched Complete Clean, an entrylevel toothbrush. In 2022-23, the Company launched Gillette Mach 3; Venus Skin love - a premium disposable razor; launched the superior Criss Cross range of toothbrushes with Indicator bristles and expanded naturals portfolio. It launched entry level Kids toothbrush. In 2023-24, the Company introduced a super-premium razor - Gillette Labs. In female grooming section, the Company launched Venus Bikini Sensitive - a razor designed for intimate grooming for women in delivering a flawlessly smooth result. It further launched a Kids toothbrush Chotta Bheem' designs - a popular animated character loved by children in India. In FY2025, Company enhanced the portfolio of Gillette Guard which offers a superior, cut-free shaving experience with a chrome-platinum coating for an enhanced protection against rust. It elevated range of Mach 3 razors by integrating state-of-the-art technology, including three anti-friction blades and unique facial adaptive technology. The packaging of Gillette Fusion 5 has revamped the product during the year 2025. The Company achieved important progress with two new launches in the manual oral care segment in 2025. The new Sensitive Expert toothbrush features a compact head and ultra-thin bristles, crafted to provide healthier gums and cleaner teeth for consumers. Moreover, the Company introduced the Oral-B Charcoal Whitening toothbrush for effective teeth whitening solutions. The iO3 electric toothbrush got launched in the Oral Care division in 2025.