PepsiCo mulls Rs 2,275 cr investment in next 2 yrs in India

Soft drinks and snacks major Pepsico is understood to be looking at investing $500 million (about Rs 2,275 crore) in India in the next two years to meet requirements for sustaining its high growth in the country.

According to industry sources, the company will be completing its $500 million investment announced in 2008 this year, a year ahead of its original schedule and hence is looking at a similar fund infusion in the next two years.

"The $500 million investment in the next two years will be utilised to sustain its growth momentum of both its beverages and foods business in India," a source said.
    
When contacted the company declined to confirm the figure but said fresh investments will be required to maintain its growth in the country.
    
"We believe that we will continue to grow at a healthy rate in the future - this will require fresh investments. At this stage we would not be able to share specific investment figure," Pepsico India Chairman Sanjeev Chadha told PTI.
    
India is one of the top five markets of PepsiCo and the company has been witnessing a volume growth of around 30 per cent. In the second quarter of this year, the company recorded the highest volume growth in India globally.
    
"We have seen high growth rates across both the beverages and foods businesses in the last couple of years. We plan to sustain these growth rates over the future also, thus we have already invested $500 million in the first two years (2009 & 2010)," Chadha said.
     
The investments have primarily been made in adding new manufacturing and marketing infrastructure, new product development and R&D, he added.
    
In 2008, Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi, during her visit to the country, had announced an investment of $500 million till the end of 2011 on enhancing its infrastructure and new product development.
    
So far the company has invested over $1 billion since its entry in India in 1989.