Mumbai: Dabur India Ltd has entered into an agreement with Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to service rural market demand for consumer goods through the latter's chain of Kisan Seva Kendra (KSK).

IOC's 1,600 KSK's countrywide would stock and sell Dabur's range of healthcare, oral care, personal wash, skin care and home care products, the company said in a statement.

According to George Angelo, vice president, sales, (consumer care division), Dabur India, the company already had a strong rural footprint with a pan-India network of over 2,200 stockists and super-stockists. He said that the agreement with IOC would help Dabur expand its rural footprint and improve its reach to rural consumers.

The agreement is initially for a period of five years.

Dabur, a leading FMCG company with a turnover of Rs 2,234 crore, also announced the launch of skincare creams and lotions.

Dabur's senior marketing manager Minoo Phakey said that with the launch of Gulabari Cold Creme and Moisturising Lotion, Dabur India was seeking to establish a position of prominence in the Rs 1,300-crore skin care market, which had been growing by over 40 per cent since 2001.

She said the company with a network of 1.5 million retail outlets in urban and semi-urban areas, was expected to spread further with the growth of herbal, consumer care, healthcare and food products.

Through the KSK rural retail outlets IOC already offers fuel as well as non-fuel value-added services like seeds, pesticides, fertilizers, grocery, personal care articles, tools, auto spares etc. Dabur will now offer its range of consumer goods in the chain.

Angelo also said that IOC was looking at widening the product portfolio being offered at its KSK to include fast moving consumer goods to reach rural women. This, for Dabur, was a good opportunity to further penetrate the rural market, he added.