Shutterstock.comIndia’s leading fast-moving consumer goods companies including , Dabur, PepsiCo, Marico, Parle, Britannia, ITC, Wipro Consumer and Emami said they are making fresh investments, adding capacity or accelerating manufacturing. That comes on the back of demand picking up, Covid-19 cases trending lower, state-level curbs on operating hours being eased and vaccination gathering pace.
Dabur India is setting up its single biggest manufacturing facility in India with a fresh investment of ₹550 crore, it announced on Wednesday.
“This facility will provide us the space needed to rapidly expand capacity for ayurvedic products, medicines and foods," CEO Mohit Malhotra said.
Demand has picked up across categories, not only within health and hygiene, but also discretionary and non-essential products in general trade, supermarkets, standalone modern trade outlets and ecommerce. Companies have reported an overall demand increase of over 15% in the first two weeks of June from the month earlier.
‘Uptick in Consumer Sentiment’
PepsiCo, maker of Kurkure and Lays snacks, will invest more than ₹800 crore to set up its largest greenfield snacks plant in Uttar Pradesh, and another greenfield foods plant in Assam, a company spokesperson said. "With Covid cases declining steadily, we are witnessing an uptick in consumer sentiment leading to higher demand," the spokesperson said.
Besides fresh investments, many large companies said they are adding capacities in anticipation of higher demand over the next three quarters, with the second wave ebbing.
"While our new manufacturing unit is large enough to meet current demand, the market is growing and we will have to put additional capacities accordingly," said Saugata Gupta, managing director at Marico.
Similarly, Parle said it is resuming scale expansion, with a steady pickup in demand. "The second wave had interrupted our manufacturing capacity expansion plans, which we will resume now," said Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head at Parle Products. "Also, most machines are being imported from other countries and assembled and fitted by their engineers now, which was not possible due to travel restrictions earlier."
Dabur India is setting up its single biggest manufacturing facility in India with a fresh investment of ₹550 crore, it announced on Wednesday.
“This facility will provide us the space needed to rapidly expand capacity for ayurvedic products, medicines and foods," CEO Mohit Malhotra said.
Demand has picked up across categories, not only within health and hygiene, but also discretionary and non-essential products in general trade, supermarkets, standalone modern trade outlets and ecommerce. Companies have reported an overall demand increase of over 15% in the first two weeks of June from the month earlier.
‘Uptick in Consumer Sentiment’
PepsiCo, maker of Kurkure and Lays snacks, will invest more than ₹800 crore to set up its largest greenfield snacks plant in Uttar Pradesh, and another greenfield foods plant in Assam, a company spokesperson said. "With Covid cases declining steadily, we are witnessing an uptick in consumer sentiment leading to higher demand," the spokesperson said.
Besides fresh investments, many large companies said they are adding capacities in anticipation of higher demand over the next three quarters, with the second wave ebbing.
"While our new manufacturing unit is large enough to meet current demand, the market is growing and we will have to put additional capacities accordingly," said Saugata Gupta, managing director at Marico.
Similarly, Parle said it is resuming scale expansion, with a steady pickup in demand. "The second wave had interrupted our manufacturing capacity expansion plans, which we will resume now," said Krishnarao Buddha, senior category head at Parle Products. "Also, most machines are being imported from other countries and assembled and fitted by their engineers now, which was not possible due to travel restrictions earlier."
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