Nooyi gets down to business in crucial meet with PM

Discuss investment in more Indian fruit content in drinks, growing portfolio of healthier products

PepsiCo chairperson and chief executive Indra Nooyi discussed the food and beverage giant’s investments in India in a key meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. 

Nooyi, on a weeklong India visit, also offered the company’s participation in government’s efforts to deliver on national development goals.

In the meeting, Nooyi shed light on how the company could grow, process and use more Indian fruits in its products, something Modi has been asking food and beverage makers to do.

“We also discussed our launch of new Quaker Oats products that take traditional recipes and add whole-grain oats to help Indians start their day in a healthy way,” she said in a statement. 

“I shared with Prime Minister Modi that PepsiCo was well-positioned to help the government deliver on the national development goals he has outlined for farmers and supporting their livelihoods,” the 61-year-old Indian-American executive said.

She also took time out to meet Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday. “Great discussions with the elegant and insightful Hon Min Nirmala Sitharaman on Indian business environment & future opportunities in India,” she tweeted.

Prior to this, Nooyi, who landed in New Delhi on Wednesday, reviewed local business operations of PepsiCo and addressed employees in a townhall meeting at the firm’s headquarters in Gurgaon.

She also met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday, pitching for a lower rate under the Goods & Services Tax (GST), which is expected to kick in by July 1. 

Soft-drinks makers have been lobbying against a high GST rate, asking not to be clubbed with cigarettes and other tobacco products that will attract a “sin tax” under the new regime. Currently, aerated drinks attract a tax of around 30-31 per cent. 

The GST Council had, in November, announced that soft-drinks along with high-end cars, tobacco and pan masala would be taxed at the highest rate of 28 per cent and would also attract a cess in a way that the total tax would remain at the current level.

Nooyi, who began her India tour on Tuesday, undertaking select market visits in suburbs such as Khar and Matunga in Mumbai, tweeted about her thoughts on remonetisation. “Visiting Mumbai! Innovative India is starting to use digital where cash once dominated — turning demonetisation into remonetisation,” she tweeted late Tuesday evening. She held a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the same day, exchanging a letter of intent for mutual collaboration in skill development and further investment in the state.