Philips looks to make India its centre of excellence for innovation

Dutch major Philips is doubling down on investments in research and development activities, and aims to make India a centre of excellence for innovation across its product segments. By the end of this decade, Philips will be completing 100 years in India, which is also a strong growth driver for its personal healthcare portfolio. At the global level, Philips spends about 5-6 per cent of its revenue in R&D against an average 2-3 per cent in the consumer industry globally, according to Deeptha Khanna, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Leader for personal health and a member of the Royal Philips executive committee in India. She told PTI that it was quite bullish about India's role not just in terms of the market and growth opportunity but also being a centre of excellence for the company on innovation across the entire enterprise. ''I think that (5-6 per cent) is a really substantial commitment. So, we are pretty serious about first and foremost R&D investment. ''Also, 40 per cent of our personal care portfolio in India is local for locals. So, we do expect to make sure that our investment in both R&D and marketing and distribution, among others, will support our growth ambition,'' she said. Without disclosing R&D investment numbers, Khanna said, ''I think the investment is the people. The majority of our digital innovation teams are sitting here already right now, and I think that promises a lot of impact in the future''. In India, the company has two R&D centres -- the Healthcare Innovation Centre in Pune and an innovation campus in Bengaluru. Last year, the company's personal health portfolio logged an over 8 per cent revenue growth, and India was one of the strong drivers of this growth, she said. As much as 40 per cent of the volume and revenue in the personal care portfolio in India is locally manufactured, she noted. ''We are even excited about how India can play a role not just local for local but local for global, which, in a way, the software piece, anyway, necessarily enables. So, (we are) quite bullish about India's role not just in terms of the market and growth opportunity but truly being a centre of excellence for us on innovation across the entire enterprise,'' she added. Talking about products, Khanna said Philips personal health business has selected categories, such as power shaving, beauty electrical products and parenting products, as those where there is a ''long runway for growth, which is beyond just one and two quarters''.

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