GUWAHATI: A delegation of PepsiCo India comprising Viraj Chouhan, Chief Government Affairs and Communication Officer-India Region; Rahul Sharma, Public Policy and Government Affairs Officer and Nitin Jindal, Associate Director, Business Planning, called upon Industries and Commerce Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary at Janata Bhawan, here on Wednesday with Rs 400 Crore investment proposal.
The PepsiCo team of officials informed the minister that the company has submitted a proposal to set up a green field project for manufacturing Lays and Kurkure chips in Assam worth Rs 400 crores. They stated that the company would engage in contract farming (buy back policy) whereby it would provide seeds to the farmers and buy back the matured potatoes from them. The company would also provide handholding support to the farmers. Right now, PepsiCo India has been working with over 24,000 farmers in 13 states of India.
The Industry Minister, Chandra Mohan Patowary assured the team that the state government would provide full support and cooperation in successfully setting up the plant. He also added that Industries and Commerce Department would take initiative with the state Agriculture Department so that PepsiCo can directly train the farmers. The Minister instructed the department officials to ensure faster clearances so that the project can be completed at the earliest.