PepsiCo to triple business in India

India - PepsiCo's US$500 million investment in areas like manufacturing and market infrastructure will lead to a tripling in its business over the next five years, CEO Indra Nooyi said.

The company said the investment will span over the next three years, and will be spread over PepsiCo's manufacturing capacity, market infrastructure, environment sustainability initiatives, R&D, new product development, and agriculture.

The investment is also expected to result in some 50,000 new direct and indirect jobs to the Indian economy, the company projects.

Vice chairman Mike White also said it was on track to achieve Positive Water Balance by 2009, an initiative that aims to save and recharge more water than it will use in its beverage plants throughout the year. To achieve this, the company adopted a multi-pronged approach to reduce water usage in its manufacturing facilities, including innovative reuse and recycling; installation of water recovery equipment; starch recovery units in its foods plants, and rain and roof water harvesting methods. 

The company said it was able to reduce water used in its manufacturing plants by two-thirds in the past five years under the initiative, and has saved nearly 2.5 billion litres of water in India in the last three years alone.

"This commitment is focused against organisations working to bring safe water to those in need including here in India," White said in a statement.

The PepsiCo Foundation's commitments to safe water initiatives will reach nearly US$15 million over the next three years, White added.