French cosmetic giant L'Oreal is looking at the possibility of developing a full fledged

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R&D centre in the country, as it looks to develop specific products for the Indian market.

The company said it has upgraded its scientific testing centre in Mumbai into a research centre.

"India is one of the fastest market for L'Oreal. We have a clear vision that we need to develop specific products for the Indian market considering the size and potential going forward," L'Oreal Professionnel India National Sales Manager Aby George Philip told PTI.

He said the Mumbai centre will work on products that could be made specifically for India.

"We have expanded our testing centre to a research centre. There is a possibility that it (testing centre) could be developed into an Research and Development (R&D) centre. This is the initial stage," he added.

At present, L'Oreal has five R&D centres across the globe, he said.

The company currently mostly imports products for the Indian market, while a few are produced at its plant in Pune.

Besides, the company is betting big on the professional segment and is planning to reach out to around 10,000 beauty salons across the country in the next two-three years.

"In the next two-three years, we should be reaching out to about 10,000 salons. At present, L'Oreal professional products are available in around 6,000 salons," he added.

Under its professional segment, the firm sells four hair care brands -- L'Oreal Professionnel, Kerastase, Matrix, Inoa -- is also looking at expanding the portfolio by bringing more global brands in the country.

"In the professional segment, we are only into the haircare category. Skincare is something which we plan to get into. We have just started doing some trials of the products in 5-6 salons," Philip said.