Indian firms in Egypt down shutters, watch and wait

While putting up a brave front, Indian firms with branches in Egypt are certainly jittery over the political turmoil there. These include fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies like including Dabur, Emami, and Marico, as well as Asian Paints. They have shut down their manufacturing units there temporarily, watching the turn of events.

Information technology firms like Wipro and Infosys have also pulled out their staff from the country and activated their backup systems as they watch the turn of events.

Dabur, which has hair oil production plant in Egypt, has shut operations from Monday. For the hair oils major, Egypt is a small but high-growth market - it reported 41 per cent growth in the quarter ended December.

''Egypt today accounts for about 2.5 per cent of Dabur's consolidated turnover. We are still watching the developments in Egypt. If the unrest is resolved over the next few days and weeks, we would not see much impact on business.

However, if the unrest continues for a longer period of time, there might be some impact. It would be too early to comment,'' said Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer, Dabur India Ltd.

Dabur's international business spans the Middle East, North and West Africa, the European Union and the US through its brands Dabur and Vatika, and contributes about 16 per cent to its consolidated revenue. Egypt accounts for around 15 per cent of Dabur's overseas business, which stood at around Rs600 crore last fiscal.