Four years after Coca-Cola India paid the entire amount of ₹23 crore for 250 acres in Yadgir district of Karnataka to set up a bottling plant, the company is set to start work on the project following a go-ahead from the State Government.

The 250-acre plot is part of the 3,500-acres the State Government has identified to set up a food and pharma park in Yadgir.

“The Government took some time over the matter, but now they have told us we can start our work there soon. We are ready to start work on the bottling plant as soon as we are given a clean title for the land in Yadgir and after we have completed a thorough process of due diligence from the community and environment perspective,” T Krishnakumar, CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, told BusinessLine .

Coca-Cola’s investments were put on hold because the High Court had stayed the acquisition of 700 acres by the State Government for the park as the farmers wanted more compensation for their acquired land. “The court stay has been vacated last month. However, there are three farmers whose land survey numbers fall within our 250 acres, who have yet to be paid by the State. We have asked the Government to speed up the payment to the farmers. The Government has assured us that the final handover will happen by the month end,” said a company official.

The State govt plans to treat Coca-Cola as the anchor investor in Yadgir district to attract more investments to the backward region.

While Coca-Cola has three bottling plants in Karnataka – two in Bidadi and one in Hospet-Koppal, the company has five bottling plants in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

India is the sixth largest market for Coca-Cola globally. The company has invested $2 billion in India during 2010-2014 and has committed to invest a total of $5 billion by 2020.

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