A restive Egypt has emerged as a cause for concern for Indian companies which have outposts in the fast growing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

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Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) makers such as Dabur, Marico, Emami and Asian Paints, in particular, have in recent years sharpened their focus on Egypt, billed as a market that promises high double-digit growth.

Since the protests erupted, however, the makers of health foods, personal care & hair care products and paints have had to shut down their manufacturing units temporarily, as a safety measure until normalcy returns.

“As of now, our operations (in Egypt) are obviously disrupted,” rued Vijay Subramaniam, chief executive officer - international business of Marico Ltd, which makes hair styling products under brands Hair Code, Fiancée and Parachute in Egypt.

While Egypt is a strongly growing business for Marico, it also plays the manufacturing hub to the Middle East region.

“Since Egypt is also a manufacturing hub for us for Middle East, we are making arrangements to source to Middle East from alternate locations like India and we are hopeful that normalcy will be restored soon,” said Subramaniam of Marico.

Marico’s international business from Bangladesh, Middle East, North Africa and South Africa comprises 23% of the group’s turnover. Middle East and Egypt contribute 6-7% to the group’s operations.

Though industry analysts do not think the impact on businesses of these companies will be significant, a resultant impact on neighbouring markets cannot be ruled out.

Healthcare products maker Emami Ltd started Egypt operations less than a year ago to cater to the growing demand of the African markets. Last week it acquired a 90.59% stake in Egyptian company Pharma Derm, but will have to wait a little longer before it starts manufacturing ointments and personal care products from there.

For hair oils major Dabur, Egypt is a small but high-growth market —- it reported 41% growth in the quarter ended December. “Egypt today accounts for about 2.5% 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 of any 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 on the same,” Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer, Dabur India Ltd.

Dabur’s international business spans Middle East, North and West Africa, EU and US through its brands Dabur and Vatika, and contributes about 16% to the its consolidated revenue.

Indian FMCG companies have huge faith in the diaspora of the region that has high acceptance of Indian products. And the companies are keeping a close eye on the developments. “It is too early to say whether the business will be impacted or not. We have to wait for sometime,” Prashant Goenka, director, international division, Emami Ltd said.

Asian Paints officials were not available for comment, but analysts suggest that Egypt where the company operates two manufacturing units, is the second largest region after India.

Most Indian businesses expect calm to be restored soon.

“We expect the situation to get resolved in a week or so. So until now, our business remains unaffected,” said Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Vikram Birla group, which runs a plant in Egypt that is the only producer of Carbon Black in the Middle East and North Africa. He was speaking from the sidelines of a press conference held to announce the acquisition of Columbian Chemicals.

Meanwhile, Indian technology firms such as Infosys Technologies and Wipro, which have presence in Egypt, have responded to the crisis with alacrity. The companies are shipping their employees back to India. They have also activated their disaster recovery centre to move work out of Egypt to centres in other locations around the world.

Nandita Gurjar, HR head of Infosys, said 19 employees, who were in Egypt, returned to Bangalore on Monday morning. “We have very few people there and they have all returned. They will go back (to Egypt) after the situation there normalises,” she said.

Wipro, which has the biggest presence amongst IT companies, said in a statement, “We are closely monitoring the situation and have taken steps to ensure the safety of employees. We have invoked the necessary Business Continuity Planning processes, to ensure customers and businesses are not impacted.”