‘Acquisitions are only a top-up, organic growth drives us’: Vineet Agrawal of Wipro Consumer Care

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : After more than four decades at Wipro, Vineet Agrawal is preparing to retire next month as chief executive officer of Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting and managing director of Wipro Enterprises. As he does, Agrawal is clear-eyed about the challenge ahead for the homegrown FMCG business: it remains a “fairly small" player and must grow across multiple categories to scale faster.

With interests spanning personal care, home care and domestic lighting—and a recent push into packaged foods—Agrawal said India’s low category penetration offers significant headroom for growth. While Wipro Consumer’s debt-free balance sheet gives it room to pursue acquisitions, these will be selective and strategic, he said, adding that organic growth will remain the core driver. The company has already begun building its foods portfolio.

In 2023, it announced plans to acquire Kerala-based packaged foods brand Brahmins, following the acquisition of Kerala’s Nirapara a year earlier—marking its entry into spices and ready-to-cook foods. The maker of Santoor soap reported revenues of ₹10,625 crore in 2024–25, a 3.4% year-on-year increase. Edited excerpts from an interview with Mint follow.

There has been huge change. Channels have evolved from only general trade to modern trade, e-commerce, and now quick commerce. Media has also fragmented.

We once had very few advertising channels; today, there are many, making media planning far more complex. Consumer expectations have risen sharply. With television and e-commerce penetration, rural expectations are now similar to urban.