French cosmetics and beauty company Loreal plans to invest about Rs1000 crore (around US$200 million) in India over the next five years.

The investment will be used for areas such manufacturing, distribution and supply chain and research and development.

“Our endeavour is to universalise beauty by targeting not just the top end of the market, but also the growing middle class with products that take into account Indian needs,” said Jean-Paul Agon, chairman and CEO.

Loreal targets to achieve 150 million consumers from India alone, says Agon.

The cosmetics company has recently opened a state-of-the-art facility in India, which is its sixth in the world and third in Asia.

Loreal’s EVP for Asia-Pacific Jochen Zaumseil said the company has been growing in India at a compound annual rate of 25-30 per cent in the last few years.

“We propose to maintain this pace of growth,” he said.

GB