HUL MD Mehta, UP CM Adityanath inaugurate detergent unit in UP's Sumerpur

HUL CEO Sanjiv Mehta and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath virtually unveiled the spray dried detergent factory and co-located distribution centre

Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) on Thursday inaugurated a new spray dried detergent factory in Sumerpur town of Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district and is planning to invest a total of Rs 700 crore in the unit by 2025.

CEO Sanjiv Mehta and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath virtually unveiled the spray dried detergent factory and co-located distribution centre, which will manufacture products for HUL brand, including Surf Excel, India’s largest laundry brand.

The unit will significantly boost the production capacity of spray dried detergent powder, making the factory a largest volume strategic sourcing site for the company in three years.

Inaugurating the unit, CM Adityanath said: “This is a proud moment for the state of Uttar Pradesh. We are glad that a global, large company like Unilever has selected our state to establish their ultra-modern factory. I am also happy to note their interest in employing women and persons with disability. We are confident that such investments will support the region’s overall development."

The factory will be Unilever’s first gender-balanced factory in South Asia, where 101 women employees were hired under the UP government’s Mission Shakti. 

The company plans to recruit an additional 153 women employees and also actively look at hiring persons with disability. The company intends to employ 1,600 people directly and indirectly by 2025.

“It is heartening to see the UIL plant take shape here in the Bundelkhand region of Uttar Pradesh, a state where our company has significant presence and history. This reinforces Unilever’s long-term commitment to the state of UP and acknowledges the excellent support from the government and the local communities. This investment is consistent with Unilever’s long-standing commitment to Atmanirbhar Bharat," said MD Mehta

Besides the manufacturing unit, HUL has set up a fully automated distribution centre, the first in South Asia for Unilever. It is equipped with automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) to deliver goods with minimum retrieval time.

HUL’s executive director of supply chain, Willem Uijen, said, the newest factory in Uttar Pradesh stands at the forefront of ultra-modern manufacturing for Unilever globally. 

“It is designed to make the best use of what the fourth industrial revolution has to offer, thereby guaranteeing world class performance in people safety, product quality, innovation lead times and environmental performance. The site’s integrated design allows for an ecosystem of material suppliers, logistic operators, and manufacturing partners to be located at the site for optimal integration of the supply chain,” Uijen added.

Safety and sustainability have been a core area of focus for the new plant and the manufacturing unit has been designed to have a zero carbon footprint, HUL said in a statement, adding that through the usage of biomass briquette as fuel, the unit will contribute to enhancing the income of approx. 10,000 farmers. 

The unit will collect and store rainwater for wider community use, send zero waste to landfill and initiate solar power generation in the near future.

It is working on developing the local logistics market and increasing the number of its suppliers and ancillaries in Uttar Pradesh through several supplier integration initiatives.

Under its community development programme, ‘Prabhat’, HUL is working with several NGOs and local authorities to set up the necessary infrastructure to help impart employable skills to local youth and enhance the livelihoods of residents.