Statement delivered by the Chairman, Mr.

Justin Skala, at the 68th Annual General Meeting of Colgate-

Palmolive (India) Limited held in Mumbai on Friday, July 17, 2009.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

On behalf of the Board of Directors and on my own behalf, I extend a very warm and cordial welcome
to all of you to the 68th Annual General Meeting of your Company.

It gives me immense pleasure to address you today and present the annual audited accounts for 2008-
09 not only because the results are excellent but also because the excellence has come in the face of
a challenging economic context.

The year that has passed by was a difficult year. The global economy reeled under severe recession.
There was an atmosphere of pessimism and anxiety all around. Businesses and corporations the
world over were in the mode of recovery rather than expansion. In this environment, I am pleased to
state that your Company has delivered a very good performance.

Sales for the year increased by 15 per cent to Rs.1,695 crore as against Rs.1,473 crore during
2007-08. Toothpaste registered an impressive volume growth of 13 per cent.

The profit after tax for the year grew by 25 per cent to Rs.290 crore as against Rs.232 crore during
2007-08.

Considering the Company’s encouraging financial results, strong cash flow and positive growth
momentum, your Board declared two interim dividends of Rs.9 and Rs.6 per share aggregating Rs.15
per share for the financial year 2008-09 as against Rs.13 per share during 2007-08.

Your Company ended 2008-09 with an excellent business performance and began 2009-10 with
positive business momentum with a hope that the economy will revive swiftly and the country will
be blessed with a normal monsoon. Your Company will continue to manage its business through a
combination of judicious pricing and aggressive cost savings to deliver margin improvements while
continuing to make commercial investments in its business.

Your Company’s continued success is primarily on account of its sharp focus on four clearly defined
strategic initiatives, namely, getting closer to consumers, the dental profession and customers;
driving innovation across the organization; increasing effectiveness and efficiency everywhere and
strengthening leadership. The benefits of focusing on these initiatives are clearly reflected in the
business results of your Company.


Let me briefly highlight each one of these strategic initiatives.

a) Getting closer to consumers, the dental profession and customers:

Strengthening relationships with consumers, the dental profession and customers is critical to
the continued success of your Company’s brands in the marketplace and to generating profitable
growth.

To best reach consumers, both in and out of the store, Colgate uses engaging integrated marketing
communications that include a mix of traditional and new media as well as creative promotional
activities.

Colgate’s shopper marketing program, which focuses on in-store behaviour, is another way by
which the Company identifies new growth opportunities for itself and its retail partners. With over
50 per cent of consumer purchase decisions being made in the store, Colgate shopper marketing
program analyzes in-store behaviour of shoppers to convert them into buyers. The research
showed that shoppers view chemists and druggists as authoritative oral health professionals, who
influence 30 per cent of toothbrush purchases in that retail environment. As a result, your Company
focuses on educating chemists and druggists on the benefits of Colgate products and provides
them with specially designed in-store displays to help communicate the message to shoppers.
This not only enhances Colgate image as a therapeutic leader but also increases chemist/druggist
recommendations and sales.

Equally important in driving growth is the Company’s relationship with the dental professionals. Their
endorsements drive trial, long term loyalty and market leadership. Your Company has expanded the
size of its professional sales force that visits dental clinics and is placing a sharper focus on partnering
with academia and key opinion leaders. Partnering with the dental professionals strengthens
Colgate’s credibility as an oral care authority and helps grow the Company’s market shares.

Another critical component of your Company’s business strategy is the alignment of its goals and
strategies with those of its customers. Colgate has developed global commercial selling principles
that apply to its relationships with all customers, regardless of their size or location. These principles
provide specific guidelines on how to achieve business goals while maintaining Colgate’s commitments
to its values and to upholding the highest ethical standards in its business dealings. To help ensure
full compliance with the principles, all the Company’s commercial personnel have completed the
training either online or in classroom. The principles have been extremely well received.

b) Driving innovation across the organization:

One of the factors instrumental for the Company’s success is its sharp focus on innovation across
the organization from product development to the supply chain to all business functions and
processes.

The Company accelerates innovation by building collaborative partnerships with leading suppliers,
research institutes and other external experts. In this regard, your Company continues to receive
excellent support and assistance from Colgate-Palmolive Company. Your Company enjoys


 unrestricted access to the repertoire of Colgate’s brands, technologies, business processes and
global best practices. Your Company is able to take full advantage of Colgate’s global scale
particularly in the fields of brand marketing and advertising, global supply chain, procurement of
material and leadership development.

c) Increasing effectiveness and efficiency everywhere:

Your Company continues to drive effectiveness and efficiency across the organization by adopting
several cost-saving measures to deliver profitable growth. Some of the cost-saving measures
taken during the year include:

i) Nepal subsidiary:

Considering the state of political instability, the economic hardships and the deteriorating
law and order situations in Nepal, your Company divested its entire shareholding in Colgate-
Palmolive (Nepal) Private Limited. Accordingly, your Company ceased its manufacturing
operations at Nepal although it continues to export its products to service the Nepal market.

ii) Hyderabad subsidiary:

Your Company proposed a tax efficient amalgamation of SS Oral Care Products Private
Limited with your Company and accordingly, the amalgamation of the subsidiary with your
Company became finally effective based on the order issued by the Andhra Pradesh High
Court on February 24, 2009.

iii) Goa subsidiaries:

The two subsidiaries at Goa also finally amalgamated in terms of the order issued by the
Bombay High Court at Goa on April 27, 2009. This will help the subsidiary avail the beneficial
synergies of manufacturing operations and significantly improve the operational efficiency of
the unified organization.

The toothpaste undertakings at Goa substantially expanded its productive capacity during the
year. Your Company’s entire toothpaste requirements is now being met by the Goa and Baddi
facilities.

iv) Strengthening leadership:

Your Company’s continued success is tightly linked to strengthening the personal leadership
at all levels of the organization. For Colgate people, leadership entails living the Company’s
strong global values of Caring, Continuous Improvement and Global Teamwork along with
the principles of Managing with Respect. These values and principles have long been the
foundation of the Company’s culture, which values and respects the contributions of all Colgate
people and places a high priority on conducting business with the highest ethical standards.

Developing the next generation of leaders is an integral part of Colgate’s business strategy.
The Company uses a formal process to identify next-generation leaders early in their careers.

 Their career paths are laid out to build an array of required skills and prepare them for
leadership roles. As their careers progress, they are given broad in-market experience across
geographies and functions in addition to training that instills Colgate’s values and culture and
strengthens leadership and functional skills.

We are, therefore, confident that with the quality and potential of our people and by focusing
on our clearly defined strategic initiatives, your Company is well equipped to achieve the
business goals set for the year.

Looking ahead, India continues to be one of the most exciting markets in the world. We see
tremendous and continued growth potential here. The year ahead is bound to be yet another
full of challenges. Your Company is well positioned to address these challenges through its
experienced management team, dedicated employees and, of course, with the continued
support of the Colgate Global company.

On a final note, I would like to sincerely thank all my colleagues on the Board for their continued
assistance, support and wise counsel.

I would also like to express my appreciation for the efficient and loyal services rendered by the
Company’s employees at all levels. Without their daily efforts and contributions, our success
would simply not be possible.

I must also express my gratitude to our many business partners, our stockists, distributors,
retailers and suppliers for their continued support.

Most importantly, I want to thank you, our shareholders, personally and on behalf of the Board
for your sustained support and confidence in the Management of your Company.

We remain, as always, committed to serving you and we will continue to do our best to deliver
superior value to all stakeholders.

Chairman

Mumbai, July 17, 2009

Registered Office:
Colgate Research Centre
Main Street, Hiranandani Gardens
Powai, Mumbai 400 076

(This does not purport to be the proceedings of the Annual General Meeting)