Beverages major Coca-Cola plans to ramp up investment for additional lines at its upcoming plant in Siddipet district as well as evaluate prospects of setting up a green field manufacturing facility in the Karimnagar/Warangal region, Industries and IT Minister K.T.Rama Rao’s office said on Saturday.
Coca-Cola, whose bottling arm Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages has one of the largest plants in Ameenpur and which in 2020 was expanded with a ₹142 crore investment, is establishing a new greenfield plant in Siddipet. In April 2022, HCCB had signed an MoU with the State government with a commitment to invest ₹1,000 crore on the new facility.
“Bolstered by the support from Telangana government... strong growth in the region, HCCB has committed an additional investment of ₹647 crore to install new lines” at the upcoming facility. The plant is expected to be completed by December 2024, Mr.Rama Rao’s office said following a meeting the visiting Telangana delegation led by the Minister had with James Mc Greevy, vice president-PPGR of Coca-Cola in New York.
Also, another green field manufacturing facility with a similar scale is being envisaged in the Karimnagar/Warangal region. With this new facility, Coca-Cola’s total investment in manufacturing capacities will exceed ₹2,500 crore. “This is one of fastest capacity expansions by Coca-Cola in recent times,” the office said.
Mr.Mc Greevy mentioned India being the third largest market for Coca-Cola globally, the company has plans to increase its presence and capacity in the country.
Growing appeal of TS
In other engagements, the Minister met Atlanta-based health-tech company Carelon’s president and COO Rajat Puri in Chicago. “Hyderabad has emerged as a key global centre for Carelon, which has added more than 8,000 highly paid jobs in last 3.5 years alone. The company has similar growth plans over the next 3-5 years, which reflects the growing appeal of our State’s business environment and talent ecosystem,” Mr.Rama Rao posted on X (formerly Twitter).
The Minister highlighted efforts of the State government to expand industrial and IT growth across all cities and towns of Telangana with an aim to decongest, decarbonise and decentralise. “Given their extraordinary growth in headcount and plans, requested Carelon to consider expanding in Tier 2 locations to provide ample opportunities to the youth in cities other than Hyderabad,” he posted.
Exciting updates
In Chicago, Mr.Rama Rao also met the leadership team of AliveCor, a firm focused on medical devices and AI. “ECG Tech of @AliveCor for remote heart monitoring and abnormal rhythm detection is revolutionary. They are enthusiastic about potential partnerships to boost medtech in Telangana! Exciting updates coming soon,” Mr.Rama Rao said in another post.
