The global consumer goods maker Unilever Plc predicts income from Indian segment to increase 6% by the next two years.

In order to achieve this objective, Unilever has decided to sharpen its focus on developing and emerging markets.

Mr. Patrick Cescau, Unilever’s Group Chief Executive, who is on a visit to India to assess the functionings of Hindustan Unilever Ltd, told that the developing and rising markets, comprising India make up 44% of its turnover at the moment.

This is likely to climb up to 50% in the next couple of years, he said.

Mr Cescau said, “Two and a half years ago, D&E markets accounted for 37 per cent of our turnover and today it is 44 per cent. Our aim is to increase this contribution to 50 per cent by 2010.”

“I don’t want to tell what exactly is the growth I am expecting from India. But you can get a sense of the number… if India would repeat its 2007 performance for the next three-four years, it would basically add another €600 million to Unilever’s internal growth… now you can compute,” he added.

Growth rates in India were 15% in 2007 on a base of 2 billion Euros, compared to 2% in the European Union on a base of 12 billion Euros. In addition to Indian market, Unilever would also focus on China because of the growth chances stemming from low capita consumption. Unilever has a top-line of 800 million Euros in China, where it lags behind P&G.