Gurugram firm proposes Rs 500 crore investment in Punjab

A Gurugram-based firm has proposed a Rs 500 crore investment to set up a drinks and water table unit in Pathankot, a Punjab government official said here today.
Varun Beverages group has sought an anchor unit status in the extreme border zone with added advantage of an early bird unit for its proposed unit for aerated soft drinks, juice based drinks and table water at the Punjab State Industrial Export Corporation (PSIEC) developed industrial estate in Pathankot, he said.
The unit will provide direct employment to 350 people and indirect employment to another 1,500 in three phases, the Group said in its proposal submitted to Suresh Kumar, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister.

Suresh Kumar has submitted the proposal to the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) for necessary action, the spokesman said.
Varun Beverages CEO Rajiv Sant, while seeking the state governments support for grant of anchor status in extreme border area with attached benefits, said the project was the first of its scale and kind in PSIEC.
It will not only generate a huge employment potential but also act as a catalyst to attract other investments in the extreme border zone, located about 27 km from the international border, he said.

The project, he said, was a fit case for being deemed as an early bird unit, as per the "New Industrial and Business Development Policy-2017" for units in the extreme border zone.

In the proposal, the company said most of the raw material would be sourced locally, giving a boost to local manufacturers/growers of sugar, citrus fruits, service providers, packaging material and finished product suppliers.
The project was committed to provide 10,000 chilling equipments/machines to eligible candidates to facilitate setting up new outlets in the state to eventually provide livelihood to over 10,000 families, he said.
It would impart training at a proposed skill development centre at its Pathankot plant to make 500-750 people employable every year for its Pizza Hut/KFC/Costa Coffee outlets across the country, he said.