L’Oréal is said to be gearing up to increase exports from its Indian facilities to the region it terms ‘South Asia-Pacific’. which includes Australia, New Zealand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

In an interview with the Business Standard, L’Oréal India’s Managing Director Christophe Letellier revealed, “We are partially catering to markets in southeast Asia from our plants in India. This will increase over time.”

Plans are also in place to expand the reach of the French beauty giant’s Mumbai- and Bengaluru-based R&D units to cater for regional as well as local needs. “India is among five markets globally where we have R&D units. The formulations that we develop here in my view can be transported to markets within the southeast region and even further into markets such as Africa,” added Letellier.

The company’s first investment tranche is due for renewal in 2016, and the French beauty giant is widely expected to channel funds into improving its distribution network within India, reaching smaller towns and cities as demand and brand awareness grows. The company is expecting Indian domestic sales to reach Rs7,000 crore by 2020.