India: Coca-Cola to invest in two new plants

Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages (HCCBL), the bottling arm of Cola-Cola in India, has announced an additional investment of 1,000 crore INR ($147 million) to set up two further new, plants according to an article in The Economic Times.

The “greenfield” plants will reportedly have lines for soft drinks, juices and bottled water to bottle brands as Coca-Cola, Fanta Thumps Up, Limca, Minute Maid and Maaza.

The news follows an announcement just last week that the firm had broken ground on another new plant in Madhya Pradesh.

Commenting on the news, HCCBL chairman and CEO T Krishnakumar said: “We are setting up two greenfield plants at Ahmedabad and Nellore. Sanand (Ahmedabad) will be commissioned this year and Nellore next year”.

“These two plants would add 4-5 per cent of our capacity”, he added.

The new facilities are described as being part of a Coca-Cola strategy, initiated in 2012, to invest $5 billion in India by 2020, along with local partners.

Source: Economic Times