Pepsico last week commissioned the country’s largest greenfield food plant in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh. The plant is built at a cost of Rs 814 crore (USD110m), with the aim to fulfill the company’s goal of doubling its snack business by 2022. The project was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of the State, Yogi Adityanath and will also boost the industrialization in the northern state and provide opportunities for the state’s potato farmers.
The food plant is spread across an area of 29 acres, which will cater for the demand of the company’s Lays potato chips business. This will also create 1500 direct and indirect jobs. The company announced that they will source 1.5 lakh tonnes (150,000 metric tonnes) of potatoes annually from farmers for producing the snacks, connecting with over 5,000 local potato farmers.
Ahmed ElSheikh, president, Pepsico India said: “Commissioning of the foods plant marks PepsiCo’s single largest investment of INR 814 crore in the country. The support of the UP government and the local administration has been instrumental in the commissioning of our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in less than two years. We are proud to strengthen our ’Unnati Ki Sajhedhari’ with the State of Uttar Pradesh”.
The company will also commission a state-of-the-art cold storage warehouse for an improved supply chain. The cold storage technology will increase the shelf life of potatoes substantially, PepsiCo said.
