From left: Soumitro Banerji, business head, personal care, Dr. S.K.Mitra, executive director, research and technical services and Ravi Prasad, CEO, of the Himalaya Drug Company posing with the replicas of their baby care products in Bangalore on Tuesday.

The Himalaya Drug Company, the leading player in herbal healthcare segment, has entered into a new segment by launching a wide range of baby care products.

The baby care product market is estimated to be around Rs. 150 crore in the country and Himalaya Drug is planning to garner five percent of the market share in the first full year of the launch.

The baby care products will be sold through the over-the-counter (OTC) route and will be available at 8,000 retail outlets in 30 leading cities.

Talking to press persons, Mr. Soumitro Banerji, Business Head, Personal Care Division, Himalaya Drug, said the target group for their range of products will be the "new age" parents in the SEC A income group and residing in large cities. He said they would be branding these products as having therapeutic properties and not just cosmetic.

Mr. Banerji said the baby care products would constitute around 10 per cent of Rs 70 crore personal care products business of the company.

Himalaya Drug CEO & President Mr. Ravi Prasad said they would also be launching these products abroad in markets like US, Europe and Middle-East.

He said unlike the current products which are available in the market, their products are not reactive and do not cause any allergies to the children.

Himalaya Drug posted a turnover of Rs 350 crore in the last fiscal and looking at Rs 400 crore during the current fiscal with exports accounting for 15 per cent of the total.

The Himalaya Baby Care products consists of seven products: moisturizing baby soap, baby powder, baby lotion, gentle baby shampoo, nourishing baby oil, baby cream and diaper rash cream.

Dr S K Mitra, Executive Director - Research & Technical Services, said they had conducted clinical trials for these products on over 500 children under very strict guidelines and their whole research undertook seven years.