With new Assam unit, PepsiCo eyes India as one of its top 10 global anchor markets
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Spread across 44.2 acres in Nalbari district’s Danguapara, about 65 km northwest of Guwahati, the unit is PepsiCo’s fifth foods manufacturing plant in India. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Food and beverage manufacturer PepsiCo on Thursday (September 10, 2026) opened its first foods factory in the Northeast, a geographically-challenged region not among India’s preferred investment zones.
Spread across 44.2 acres in Nalbari district’s Danguapara, about 65 km northwest of Guwahati, the unit is PepsiCo’s fifth foods manufacturing plant in India.
According to Jagrut Kotecha, the CEO of PepsiCo India and South Asia, the Nalbari plant forms part of the company’s investment commitment through 2030.
“The inauguration of PepsiCo India’s foods manufacturing facility in Nalbari is another important milestone in Assam’s industrial growth story. This investment underscores the confidence that leading global companies have in Assam’s business-friendly policies, infrastructure development, and skilled workforce,” Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said after inaugurating the plant.
He underscored the multinational company’s commitment to ensure more than 75% of its 700 direct employees are women.
Mr Kotecha said India is officially ranked among PepsiCo’s top 13 anchor markets worldwide.
“With our Assam, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu operations driven by an investment strategy to expand local production, we hope to place India among our 10 markets,” he said.
He said PepsiCo faced a major challenge when it looked east from West Bengal three years ago—the potatoes grown by farmers in Assam were not chip-grade.
Months of training farmers to grow chip-grade potatoes through agri-entrepreneurs helped the MNC upgrade the skills of 600 farmers across 14 districts.
“We plan to increase our partner farmers to more than 5,000 in the coming years through a robust support ecosystem that includes quality seeds, agronomy expertise, mechanisation access, soil-tested farming practices, and assured procurement,” Mr Kotecha said.
PepsiCo also plans to cover 80,000 smallholder farmers by nurturing 2,200 agri-entrepreneurs across Assam and West Bengal.
“The Nalbari facility will also drive demand for more cold storage capacity, strengthening Assam’s agricultural infrastructure and potato value chain,” he said. EOM
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