P&G India to invest Rs 500 crore through its Rural Growth Fund

In an effort to accelerate growth in the Indian rural market, Procter & Gamble (P&G) India is set to invest Rs 500 crore through its ‘Rural Growth Fund’. It will provide external partners an opportunity to collaborate with P&G on business solutions on communication, media outreach and go-to-market solutions such as tech-enabled selling, increasing distribution and last-mile delivery.

Madhusudan Gopalan, CEO, G&P Indian Subcontinent, believes rural India has a pivotal role to play in the country’s road to recovery from the pandemic. “We have already seen the rural segment deliver a resilient performance during the last few months and will continue to be a key driver of growth for the FMGC industry.”

Gopalan said accelerating growth in the rural market is a strategic priority and the new fund will partner firms which understand the rural DNA and can enable them to deliver superior products, communication, retail execution and value to rural consumers. “We also want to invest in empowering rural kiranas with tech-enabled solutions and best practices on inventory and store management that will help them build their businesses further,” he said. “We are confident that through these partnerships, we will be able to contribute towards the inclusive growth of the rural economy.”

Notably, the COVID-19 pandemic has driven the adoption of digital technology, which in turn enabled kirana stores and neighborhood and mom-and-pop shops to adopt technology to expand their businesses. There has been an observed growth and expansion in billing, customer service, procurement and logistics across urban and rural markets.

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P&G India says this is part of their vGROW programme, which will offer a platform to existing and new suppliers to pitch their solutions to P&G’s leadership team to accelerate rural growth. Over the past four years, the company has been hosting events to identify potential partners among sustainable solution providers of packaging innovations, renewable sources of energy and means to reduce carbon footprint.