Henkel's cosmetics include hair-dyes, deodorants, talcum powder and soaps under the Fa range of products. The spurt in the cosmetic industry has led to international brands like Maybelline and Revlon entering the Indian market. "Henkel wants to cash in on the boom that the cosmetic industry is witnessing in India and is sure of being a success with its already popular Fa range of products," say sources.

India's success in beauty paegents has been one of the factors contributing to the boom in the cosmetic industry. It also lead to the revival of indegenous industries like Emami which has now roped in Madhuri Dixit to launch its new range. Lakme has also gripped its losing share by launching a new range of products to match the international brands. Henkel at present has three joint-venture (JV) partnerships in India. In 1997 a JV was formed with Chembond called Henkel Chembond Surface Technologies Ltd. "Henkel has a 51 per cent stake in the Mumbai-based company which deals in developing steel coil," regional manager technical service centre Henkel, Karl Heinz Huppertz, told The Financial Express. The JV deals with surface treatment by organic coating which could be done on roofing and computer industry.

"The technology we have recieved from Henkel in organic coating would fetch us business worth Rs 75 lakh annually by next year," said VS Gandhi from Henkel Chembond Surface Technolgies Ltd. This coating is done on surfaces which are prone to erosion and prolongs the life of the product. Another JV called Henkel Spiek in Chennai is manufacturing detergents and the third partnership company in Delhi called Henkel Tersoion is manufacturing automotive sealents. A leading specialist in applied chemistry, Henkel was founded in 1878. At present it has 330 consolidated companies across 72 nations. The annual turnover during 1999 was 11.4 billion Euro. Henkel's main products include cosmetics, detergents, industrial adhesives, products of industrial hygiene and surface technology.