Hindustan Unilever Limited has inaugurated the new Unilever Fragrance Hub (UFH) in Mumbai, reinforcing India's role as a key growth market and research and development centre. The facility is the third global hub for Unilever, following similar establishments in the UK and the US, and represents the latest investment under Unilever's overall €100 million programme to advance in-house, digitally enabled fragrance creation capabilities. The move is aimed at accelerating innovation and enhancing product experience across categories.

Facility Overview

Located at the IIT Bombay campus, the hub brings together consumer insight, advanced science, and artificial intelligence. The colocation at IIT Bombay creates opportunities to collaborate with academia in science, technology, and digital-first fragrance innovation. The India lab is a fully integrated facility for fragrance creation, application, and evaluation, utilising proprietary creation software, real-time evaluation data capture, and advanced compounding technologies.

Key details of the Unilever Fragrance Hub are outlined below:

Strategic Importance

Fragrance is a critical driver of product desirability and premiumisation. The Mumbai hub will harness India's expanding consumption base to design fragrances that can scale globally. The facility is designed to bring fragrance design, development, and evaluation closer to one of the world's fastest-growing consumer markets.

Vivek Sirohi, Head of Unilever Fragrance House, stated that the inauguration reflects continued investment in cutting-edge capabilities. He noted that the hub enables faster local response, deeper market understanding, and improved self-reliance in application and evaluation, allowing teams to design fragrances from the product and consumer context outward.

Vibhav Sanzgiri, Executive Director, R&D, Hindustan Unilever Limited, added that fragrance plays a critical role in elevating the consumer experience of everyday products. He emphasised that the facility enables teams to design, test, and refine fragrances end-to-end while collaborating seamlessly with other Unilever fragrance hubs globally. The new hub underscores Unilever's continued commitment to India as a priority market and a global centre of excellence.

Hindustan Unilever Limited has declared a final dividend of ₹22 per share for the financial year 2025-26, pending approval from shareholders. The payout, applicable to shares with a face value of ₹1 each, is scheduled to be disbursed on or after Friday, July 3, 2026. Shareholders registered on the record date of Tuesday, June 23, 2026, will be eligible to receive the dividend through various online transfer modes.

The company's Board of Directors recommended the dividend at its meeting held on April 30, 2026. The 93rd Annual General Meeting (AGM) to approve this dividend and transact other business is scheduled for Tuesday, June 30, 2026, at 2:00 PM IST. The meeting will be conducted via Video Conferencing (VC) and Other Audio Visual Means (OAVM) in compliance with the Companies Act, 2013, and relevant SEBI regulations.

Key Dates and E-voting Schedule

Shareholders must adhere to several cut-off dates leading up to the AGM. The remote e-voting period will commence on Thursday, June 25, 2026, at 9:00 AM IST and conclude on Monday, June 29, 2026, at 5:00 PM IST. The cut-off date for determining eligibility for e-voting and dividend is Tuesday, June 23, 2026.

Compliance and Taxation Details

The company has mandated that members holding shares in physical form must register their PAN and KYC details, including bank account information, to receive dividends. Physical folios without updated KYC details will receive dividends only after compliance is achieved. Members holding shares in dematerialized form must update their bank details with their Depository Participants to avoid delays.

Regarding taxation, dividend income is taxable in the hands of members. For resident members, Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) will be deducted at 10% if PAN details are registered; otherwise, the rate increases to 20%. No TDS is required if the aggregate dividend during the financial year does not exceed ₹10,000. Members may submit Form 121 for exemption if eligible, provided their PAN status is not 'In-operative'.

The Notice of the 93rd AGM and the Integrated Annual Report for the financial year 2025-26 will be sent electronically to members with registered email addresses. Physical copies will be dispatched upon request. The documents will also be available on the company's website and the websites of BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Limited.