PepsiCo opens first Northeast foods plant in Assam, eyes India in its top 10 global markets
PepsiCo opened its first foods manufacturing plant in India's Northeast on Thursday, a 44.2-acre facility at Danguapara in Assam's Nalbari district, about 65 km northwest of Guwahati. The unit is the company's fifth foods plant in the country and its first in a region that has historically attracted a smaller share of large-scale industrial investment.
The plant was inaugurated by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. "The inauguration of PepsiCo India's foods manufacturing facility in Nalbari is another important milestone in Assam's industrial growth story. This investment underscores the confidence that leading global companies have in Assam's business-friendly policies, infrastructure development, and skilled workforce," Mr Sarma said.
Jagrut Kotecha, chief executive of PepsiCo India and South Asia, said the Nalbari plant forms part of the company's investment commitment through 2030. India is officially ranked among PepsiCo's 13 anchor markets worldwide.
"With our Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu operations driven by an investment strategy to expand local production, we hope to place India among our 10 markets," Mr Kotecha said.
On employment, the company said more than 75% of the plant's 700 direct employees will be women, a commitment the Chief Minister also underscored.
Mr Kotecha said PepsiCo faced a significant challenge when it looked east from West Bengal three years ago: the potatoes grown by farmers in Assam were not of chip-grade quality. Months of training farmers through an agri-entrepreneur programme helped upgrade the skills of 600 farmers across 14 districts.
"We plan to increase our partner farmers to more than 5,000 in the coming years through a robust support ecosystem that includes quality seeds, agronomy expertise, mechanisation access, soil-tested farming practices, and assured procurement," he said.
The company also plans to reach 80,000 smallholder farmers by nurturing 2,200 agri-entrepreneurs across Assam and West Bengal.
"The Nalbari facility will also drive demand for more cold storage capacity, strengthening Assam's agricultural infrastructure and potato value chain," Mr Kotecha said.
Assam and other Northeastern states have in recent years sought to draw food processing and manufacturing investment, pointing to improved road, rail and air connectivity, power supply and policy incentives. Industry analysts note, however, that land availability, logistics costs and distance from major consumer markets have traditionally weighed on large industrial projects in the region.
The Nalbari plant adds to PepsiCo's existing foods manufacturing footprint in India, which includes operations in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. The company said its expansion strategy in these states is aimed at increasing local production capacity.
