New York:French cosmetics giant L'Oreal SA is planning to buy an ayurvedic skin-carebrand to bring the Indian vision of beauty to the world.

"We would be interested in buying an ayurvedic brand to tap the increasingconsumer appetite for exotic beauty products.," company's Chief executiveJean-Paul Agon was quoted as saying by the Wall Street Journal.

The company is exploring a wide range of options and hasn't yet identified thebrand it would like to buy, the paper said.

Agon, who took over as chief executive last year after heading the company'sbusiness in regions such as the US and China, said L'Oreal's strategy would beto use its new Indian purchase as a launching pad to introduce ayurvedicproducts all over the world.

The next three to five years will be a period of major growth for the companyin India,he was quoted as saying by the paper.

The new Indian acquisition will be small and isn't likely to make up more than5 per cent of future sales growth in India. But an added benefit of thepurchase is that it might give L'OrTal expertise in ayurvedic medicine.

L'Oreal has become one of the world's biggest cosmetics companies by tackinglocal brands onto its global beauty portfolio, it said.

Faced with sluggish cosmetics-market growth in Europe and the US, the Journal said, L'Oreal has rushed intoconsumer markets such as India,China, Brazil and Mexico in the past few years.