Mumbai, February 15, 2002

Godrej today announced that it has bought a 26 per cent stake in Personalitree Academy Limited for Rs 12 million. Personalitree is a fast-growing, e-varsity providing online soft skills training. It offers highly interactive training modules in soft skills like communication, lateral thinking, public speaking and creativity, all applied to the business sphere.

The human potential management and training market has been estimated at Rs 6,500 million by industry observers such as Dr Tarun Sheth of Shilputsi Consultants, particularly as Indian businesses are required to compete with international companies both domestically and overseas.

Announcing this, Mr Adi Godrej, chairman of the Godrej Group, said: "Personalitree courses are superb in tone and texture and we especially liked the simplicity with which a user can imbibe the learning. E-training will, we believe, take off substantially in India. Companies will soon wonder how they ever did without it, because soft skills are most valuable in their overall training strategy development. Personalitree has already built up an impressive client list, and, on our part, we have decided to introduce the training courses within the Godrej Group."

Personalitree e-varsity, launched in September 2001, has a number of corporate clients who have already signed on for their courses, including American Express, Citibank, IFFCO, Icon Data Management Services, Bharti Singtel and HPCL, with several others in the process of finalising their training package requirements.

Said Mrs Rama Luthra, the managing director of Personalitree: "We have adapted our training modules to the Indian context and have met a burning need amongst the HR management fraternity to incorporate a continuous learning and personal growth solution for corporate employees. And, because we have chosen to deploy our repertoire online, the training courses can be imbibed flexibly by our clients at their own pace and time, no matter where they are geographically located and even while they are on the move."

Personalitree has rich and interactive soft-skills training material, created under the guidance of some of the finest trainers and academics in the country and overseas, including ---Dr Bala V Balachandran, Dr Pradip Khandwalla, Dr M B Athreya, Mr Shiv Khera and Dr Nitin Nohria.

The Rs 40-billion Godrej Group is among the largest Indian corporate groups, with a presence in diversified areas such as consumer products, agriculture, food, real estate, security equipment, home appliances, machine tools and precision engineering, among others. The major companies in the group are Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Co Ltd, Godrej Consumer Products Limited, Godrej Industries Limited, Godrej Appliances Limited, Godrej Infotech Limited, Godrej Agrovet Limited, Godrej Saralee Limited and Godrej Properties & Investments Limited.

Personalitree Academy Limited manages an interactive training resource for people skills (www.personalitree.com). It was developed in response to a growing need among employers for people who are not just technically qualified, but who also have well-developed people skills. The founder promoters of the company include Mr S K Birla, Mr Ramesh Vangal, Mr Shiv Jatia and Mrs Rama Luthra.