The Hindu Business Line : Frito Lay's to set up new facility near Kolkata

PEPSICO'S snack food division, Frito Lay's India, is investing Rs 75 crore to put up its third manufacturing plant in Sankrail, near Kolkata which is expected to become operational by October this year. West Bengal was found to be attractive by Pepsi for investment since the company needed a manufacturing base in the eastern part of the country that is a large snack market.

"Frito Lay's India is investing Rs 75 crore in putting up this manufacturing plant in West Bengal. The State provides immense opportunities for agro-based industries ; it is the second largest grower of potatoes in India after Uttar Pradesh," a Pepsi spokesperson told Business Line.

She said there was no major potato processing industry in West Bengal today. Also, since the varieties and agro processes for potato cultivation are presently not geared to the processor's requirements, Frito Lay's is working closely with the Department of Agriculture and Horticulture, Government of West Bengal and co-operatives to develop potato suitable for processing through contact farming.

"Inputs are being given to farmers in the form of seeds of the appropriate variety and training on a package of region-specific agro practices," she added.

Frito Lay's already owns two snack-food plants, located in Channo (Punjab) and Pune (Maharashtra) besides a conversion unit at Faridabad (Haryana). In and around the existing plants too, the company has carried out backward integration to source potatoes and other crops with farmers across Punjab, western Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

The spokesperson said the company has experienced aggressive year-on-year growth, emerging as a healthy profit-making business unit but did not divulge any revenue figures. "The growth has been driven by core brands Lay's and Kurkure," the spokesperson added.

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