Thiruvananthapuram

As it celebrates its golden jubilee, condom production at HLL Lifecare has crossed two billion pieces, matching global standards, and it is the only company in the world which is a one-stop shop offering everything in birth control solutions. Over the years, this company has come to be referred to as the safest companion of many a bedroom and has taken the ‘pleasure’ business to new heights, through innovations and new products.

The company’s flagship brand Moods comes in more than 19 variants and the marketing portfolio of the company currently has more than 70 brands in its kitty. A peep into the history of the company shows that the Central government set up its National Family Planning program in the 1950s.

With condoms, then, being mainly imported and heavily priced, their availability at low cost to the common man turned out to be vital for the success of the government’s Small Family Happy Family campaign.

In the 1960s, the Centre decided to start a firm to manufacture condoms at affordable rates in Kerala where rubber is the principle cash crop. On March 1, 1966, Hindustan Latex Ltd was incorporated as an undertaking under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The foundation stone for the first manufacturing plant, with a production capacity of 144 million pieces, was laid at Peroorkada, near here on January, 14, 1967. Thereafter, on this day in 1969, commercial production began with the technical collaboration of Okamoto Industries of Japan. The year 1976 saw the first phase of development with an increase in the production capacity to 288 million pieces a year. Later, to meet the growing need of condoms for the national family planning programme, it expanded its production units here and at Belgaum..

In the 1990s, the diversified entity achieved the goal of becoming a Rs 1,000-crore company.

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