Beverages and snacks major PepsiCo India today said it will invest over Rs 1,200 crore to build a new beverage manufacturing facility in Andhra Pradesh.
The company plans to build a new greenfield beverage manufacturing plant in Sri City, Andhra Pradesh, which upon completion will be PepsiCo's largest beverage plant in India, PepsiCo India said in a statement.
"PepsiCo intends to invest more than Rs 1,200 crore in the project, which is part of the recently announced plans by PepsiCo and its partners to invest Rs 33,000 crore in India by 2020," it added.
The company also announced plans to substantially increase sourcing of mango pulp from Andhra Pradesh in the next six years.
Commenting on the development, PepsiCo India Chairman and CEO D Shivakumar said the new beverage facility is a key part of the company's growth plans for the Indian market and "we are delighted to locate it in Andhra Pradesh".
"Sri City is ideally located and offers the perfect opportunity to harness the benefits of superior connectivity, great infrastructure and an ample talent pool, which are the prerequisites for every industry," he added.
The plant will manufacture a range of beverages, including fruit juice based drinks, carbonated soft drinks and sports drinks.
Welcoming PepsiCo's investment in the state, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy said: "The proposed plant will be completed in three phases and once fully operational, the plant will provide direct and indirect employment to over 8,000 people".
PepsiCo Indian already has a beverage manufacturing plant at Sangareddy in Andhra Pradesh.
With seven production lines, the plant manufactures and supplies PepsiCo products to the entire Andhra Pradesh region and parts of Karnataka.