Reliance to invest ₹1,156 crore in Thoothukudi FMCG manufacturing unit

Reliance Consumer Products will set up its first FMCG unit in Tamil Nadu with ₹1,156 crore investment in Thoothukudi, joining Godrej, Dabur and PepsiCo in the state

Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL) will come up with an integrated manufacturing facility in Tamil Nadu with an investment of ₹1,156 crore. With this, the company joins the league of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry majors like Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), Dabur India Ltd, and PepsiCo India Holdings, that have lined up investments or started their units in the state in the last two years.

 

This will be the first manufacturing unit by the Mukesh Ambani-led RCPL in the state. The facility will come up at SIPCOT in Allikulam Industrial Park in Thoothukudi, and will employ over 2,000 people. Out of the around ₹11.31 trillion investments in the last four years, sources indicate that over ₹2.7 trillion were invested in South Tamil Nadu, including Thoothukudi and nearby areas. 

 

 

Last Saturday, Cochin Shipyard and Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders had announced two separate shipbuilding projects in Thoothukudi, with a total investment of ₹30,000 crore.

 

“We continue to attract marquee national FMCG players into the state, and there is no major sector we aren’t leaving untapped. This facility will span 60 acres and focus on multi-product manufacturing, from regional snacks to biscuits, spices to atta, edible oil and much more. Over the next five years, it will generate 2,000 local jobs,” said the state Industries Minister T R B Rajaa.

 

It was in August this year that GCPL opened its integrated multi-product greenfield facility in Chengalpattu at an investment of ₹515 crore to manufacture products like Cinthol, Aer, Good Knight, among others. Dabur India is coming up with a ₹400 crore FMCG plant at SIPCOT Food Park in Villupuram, which was reportedly the first by the company in South India. In April this year, as part of a strategy to grow its snacks manufacturing capacity, PepsiCo India had lined up plans for a manufacturing unit in Mannapparai, on a 28-acre plot in the SIPCOT industrial park. The facility may produce snack items like potato chips.

 

Other industry majors that already have a strong manufacturing presence in the state include Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) with a personal care and home care unit in Hosur, and Britannia Industries Ltd with two biscuit/bakery units in Perundurai and Madurai. On Saturday, two memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed in the shipping sector for Thoothukudi. The investments include a ₹15,000 crore shipyard developed by Cochin Shipyard, creating 10,000 jobs. The second project will include another ₹15,000 crore shipyard by Mumbai-based Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders, creating 45,000 jobs.

 

In the last few years, Southern Tamil Nadu districts like Thoothukudi, Dindigul, Kanyakumari, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Theni, Tirunelveli, and Virudhunagar have attracted significant investments. In August, a ₹16,000 crore manufacturing unit by VinFast was inaugurated in Thoothukudi. 

 

Four global majors — Malaysian government-owned oil and gas giant Petronas-backed Amplus Ganges Solar, Singapore’s state-run energy firm Sembcorp Industries’ Green Infra Renewable Energy, Gurugram-based Acme Green Hydrogen and Chemicals, and ReNew Energy’s subsidiary ReNew E-Fuels — are expected to come up with a hydrogen hub, which is expected to attract an investment of ₹41,860 crore in its first phase, at VO Chidambaranar (VOC) Port. The first phase of this project is likely to be commissioned by 2028.