A household name for paste and tooth powder, Colgate Palmolive (India) was established on 23rd September 1937 as a private limited company in Bombay, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Colgate Palmolive Co. Of USA Initially it started with trading activity and later set up manufacturing operations in 1949 at Sewry (Bombay). The company became a public limited company on 5th October 1978. In 1990-91 the company commissioned facilities for fatty acid and toilet soap at Waluj (Aurangabad). The plants at Sewri and Waluj manufacture oral care products like dental creams, tooth powder tooth brushes and personal care products like toilet soaps, shampoo, which are marketed under various brand names such as Colgate, Palmolive, Halo, Protex and Charmis. The company’s distribution network covers 1700 stockists and 4,50,000 retailers with ware house facilities in Mumbai, Calcutta, Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Madras ( and a new addition at Faridabad). The company has its own Research and development facilities and had also been getting the R&D benefits of the parent company. It has a well established quality Control Department at Sewri & Waluj. For 40 years, since inception till 1978, Colgate was carrying on its business in India with a paid up capital of Rs. 1.5 lakh made up of 1500 equity shares of Rs. 100 each, when it was increases to Rs. 1.96 crore, by a bonus issue in the ratio of 130:1. To comply with the FERA regulations, Colgate Palmolive, USA diluted its share holding to 40% in the Indian company, through an offer of sale to the Indian public in October 1978. Following FERA relaxation, the foreign shareholding was increased from 40% to 51% in September 1993.
Colgate Palmolive (CP) is a global leader in household and personal care products. In 1991, it had sales of $ 6.06 billion and a gross profit of $ 2.76 billion, its world wide R&D expenditures were $ 114