Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages, the bottling arm of beverage giant Coca-Cola in India, will be setting up its second factory in Telangana with an investment of ₹600 crore.
The company, whose existing plant in the State is at Ameenpur, near Hyderabad, has been allotted 48.53 acres at the Bandathimmapur Food Processing Park, Siddipet district, by Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation for the proposed facility. It will be a state-of-the-art, digitally enabled, automated, smart factory to manufacture juices, enhanced water, packaged water as well as sparkling beverages and expected to be ready for commercial production at the end of 2023.
HCCB will be investing ₹600 crore on the first phase followed by another ₹400 crore in subsequent phases over the next five years, Telangana Industries and IT Minister K.T. Rama Rao told a programme here on Thursday in which the company also entered into three memoranda of understanding with the State government.
Women will constitute 50% of the workforce at the new factory, he said, assuring the company of support and expeditious approvals. Urging the beverage maker to launch Indianised products, the Minister said the government could facilitate local sourcing of mangoes and sweet lime for the company, something that will benefit the producers too.
“The prevailing industrial ecosystem and industrial climate in Telangana has encouraged them to double the manufacturing capacity. This [new] factory will provide capacity for next ten years of sales foreseen in the region,” Mr. Rao said.
Chairman and CEO Neeraj Garg said, “We value the support and encouragement we receive from the State... will shortly begin work on the new greenfield [project].” While 300 direct jobs are to be created, the multiplier effect of the factory by way of indirect jobs, local sourcing will be higher.
To queries, senior executives of HCCB said water for the factory, just like for other units at the Food Park, will come from Kaleswaram project. On production capacity of the factory and quantum of water required, they said granular details were being worked out.
The memoranda of understanding, signed in the presence of the Minister and Chief Commercial Officer, Bottling Investments Group of the Coca-Cola Company Juan Pablo Rodriguez, pertains to capacity building of organisations in the areas of water; solid waste management; and skill building.
HCCB in a release said it will conduct capacity building for existing and upcoming water use intensive industries in Telangana to improve water efficiency and enhance wastewater management and reuse as well as to improve solid waste management. In partnership with Telangana government’s TASK, HCCB will impart skill training to over 10,000 youth in two years.
