Himalaya Drug Company (HDC) is expecting a robust customer response to its newly- introduced babycare range of products which have been proven 'friendly to Indian baby skins' after clinical trials.

Himalaya Drug's President and CEO Ravi Prasad (right), Executive Director, S.K.Mitra (centre) and Business Head Soumitro Banerji display its newely-launched babycare products in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Speaking to the media, Dr. S K Mitra, the company's Executive Director for Research and Technical Services said: "Our products have undergone the most stringent of tests to develop products for this category of consumers. No other player has undertaken clinical trials in the Indian sub-continent. The tests were undertaken on the basis of the Helsinki protocol and conducted on kids who were over six months old."

HDC, he added, had conducted clinical trials covering 500 babies in three cities-Kolkata, Chandigarh and Chennai. The company, which will be pitted with the US FMCG major Johnson & Johnson in the Rs 150 crore pan-India babycare market intends to have a 5% market share.

The company has introduced seven new products in the babycare segment including moisturizing soap, baby powder, baby lotion, shampoo, nourishing baby oil and baby cream besides the first of its kind of diaper rash cream. The active herbal ingredients include olive oil, almond oil, aloe vera, sandalwood and hibiscus.

On the company's marketing strategy, Mr. Soumitro Banerji, Business Head of the personal care division, said the plan was to tap the new age parents spread in 30 cities. "The products would be made available at close to 8,000 retail outlets besides being promoted in maternity homes. We would also be using gynaecologists to provide information about range of products to new born mothers," he added.

The launch of the new babycare range of products is expected to contribute 10% to the turnover of the Personal Care Division (PCD). PCD accounts for a fifth of HDC's topline (Rs. 350 crore in FY'04) which is slated to touch Rs. 400 crore this fiscal, according to Mr. Ravi Prasad, the company's President and Chief Executive Officer.

Meanwhile, HDC is also buoyed by the response for its products in the overseas market. The company has now become the fourth largest FMCG brand in UAE, as per surveys.