Food processing and packaging solutions company Tetra Pak has plans to move its other businesses to India including assembly of filling machines, and is in the process of drawing out a blueprint for the purpose.

“Over the next three to five years, we will move full segments of our business to China, India and Brazil, not only manufacturing equipment,” Mr Alejandro Anavi, Executive Vice-President, Supply Chain operations for the Tetra Pak group, said. He said while process development would continue in Europe, it would also be undertaken at a local level.

The plant

The company's expansion plans will take shape at Chakan where it held the ceremony for its second greenfield packaging plant in India on Thursday.

Located on 45 acres, the plant will have an installed capacity to make 8.5 billion packages a year with potential to scale up to 16 billion. Being built with an investment of Rs 600 crore, the facility will begin production by December 2012. It will serve both domestic as well as overseas markets — primarily South Asia, South-East Asia, West East and sub-Saharan Africa.

Tetra Pak's Takwe plant began production in 1997 and with production of 4.7 billion units last year is nearing full capacity utilisation. The company has recently started reconditioning of filling machines here and has a capacity to recondition 10 machines per year.

“This will be ramped up to 20 machines per year from next year,” Mr Kandarp Singh, Managing Director, South Asia markets, said adding that the new plan will also have a machine rebuilding centre.

In 2010, Tetra Pak India exported nearly 50 per cent of its production and had a turnover of Rs 850 crore.

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