Haleon's India Expansion
Haleon Invests £175 Million in First Indian Oral Health Factory
Anonymous
Haleon, which makes Sensodyne and other consumer health products, said it is investing about Rs 2,000 crore (roughly £175 million) in its first manufacturing plant in India, a greenfield facility at Pithampur in Madhya Pradesh. The company expects the plant to be operational by 2029–30 and to produce mainly oral-health products, using highly automated and AI-enabled systems, while boosting supply-chain resilience, domestic value addition, and exports across Asia. Haleon says the investment is projected to create up to 500 direct jobs, with a goal of building a more diverse workforce, including targeting up to 30% women employees at the site. The move is framed as part of a long-term growth push for India, aiming to improve access to everyday health for at least 300 million additional consumers in the country and contribute to Haleon’s broader goal of reaching one billion more consumers globally by 2030. In London trading, Haleon shares fell and lagged the FTSE 100 despite first-quarter organic revenue growth of 2.2%, as the company characterized the year’s start as a “soft opening” while keeping full-year guidance for organic revenue growth at 3% to 5%.
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Haleon’s foundation-stage announcement for the Pithampur plant came alongside Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav (who “virtually laid the foundation”), with company leadership including CEO Brian McNamara and India Subcontinent head Kedar Lele in attendance.
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The greenfield facility will span “more than 40 acres” in the Smart Industrial Park at Pithampur and is located on the North-South Corridor highway network, a detail Haleon said would support supply-chain and export capabilities.
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Haleon said the Pithampur facility will be its “first manufacturing unit in South Asia” and that it also plans to establish an R&D centre at the greenfield site (covering more than 40 acres).
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The plant represents a shift from prior practice: Haleon “has all along outsourced its production in India from third-party contract manufacturers,” making the move to a company-owned site a change in how it supplies the Indian market.
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On the market side, Haleon reported that while organic revenue grew 2.2% in Q1, volumes slipped 0.2%; and CEO Brian McNamara told the Wall Street Journal that the company is “definitely in investment mode,” with the project described as its largest construction effort since the 2022 GSK spin-off.
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