PepsiCo to set up plant in Chittoor

• To invest `1,200 cr at Sri City SEZ
• To establish it in three phases, and provide 8,000 jobs

Hyderabad: Global snack and beverage maker PepsiCo announced on Saturday its plans to set up a greenfield beverage manufacturing plant in Chittoor.

The company has proposed to invest over Rs 1,200 crore in the plant with an estimated capacity of 3.6 lakh litres in three phases. It will provide direct and indirect employment to over 8,000 people on completion of the project. “We will put in Rs 420 crore in phase I which has already commenced and the remaining amount will be in two more phases – Rs 400 crore in 2015 and Rs 380 crore in 2017. The project will be fully operational by 2020,” D Shivakumar, the chairman and CEO of Pepsico India, said.

Speaking to the media after the customary ground-breaking ceremony by Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy at a local hotel, Shivakumar said that the beverage industry was growing in a big way in Andhra Pradesh, which was the reason why the global iconic brand initiated to set up another major manufacturing facility in the state.

The company’s state-of-the-art beverage manufacture plant in Sangareddy having seven production lines supplies PepsiCo products all over the state and also some parts of Karnataka. The global major has about 38 production centres in India, of which 14 plants are manned by the company officials and the remaining are owned by their partners.

Recently, the company announced plans to invest Rs 33,000 crore as part of its expansion in the country till 2020. This project is one among its pan-India plan.

The proposed plant coming up at Sri City, a private industrial cluster, will manufacture a range of beverages including fruit juice-based drinks, carbonated soft drinks and sport drinks. After completion, the plant will be the largest beverage plant in the country.

Interestingly, about five years back, PepsiCo gave a twist by carbonation of its cola to take on its rival ThumsUp in the latter’s stronghold – Andhra Pradesh, which is the country’s top three soft drinks markets. By this push, marketing experts opine, the company may take on its rivals efficiently.

Shivakumar, who took over the command of the company, is an old-timer for Andhra Pradesh market per se, as he was trained and graduated in marketing in the state. Without giving any numbers, he says that there is a tremendous opportunity to expand in food and beverage business in the state, and the company’s expansion plan is focusing on that opportunity.

Earlier, Chief Minister Kiran Reddy said that his government’s policy was to identify companies which can provide employment to locals and improve the economic status of farmers in that location. “We are happy PepsiCo has chosen Andhra Pradesh to set up its plant in Chittoor.

The company also assured that it will procure major inputs (mangoes and other fruits) for its plants in the country,” he said.

Major Industries Minister Geetha Reddy, Principal Secretary (Industries) K Pradeep Chandra and Sri City officials participated in the function.