Nalbari, September 10: In a significant stride for Assam’s industrial landscape, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday inaugurated PepsiCo India’s first food manufacturing facility in the Northeast, a ₹778-crore state-of-the-art plant at Banekuchi in Nalbari district that will produce Lay’s and Uncle Chipps. The sprawling 44.2-acre greenfield unit, located at the AIDC Industrial Park, marks PepsiCo’s fifth foods plant in India and its first manufacturing foray into the entire Northeast region, signalling growing confidence of global investors in Assam’s improving business environment, infrastructure and skilled workforce.
Addressing a large gathering that included senior ministers, legislators, company executives, farmers and local residents, the Chief Minister described the occasion as 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,” Sarma said. He recalled that he had laid the foundation stone of the project in September 2023 along with the then Industries Minister and local MLA Chandramohan Patowary, and expressed pride that the major food processing facility had been commissioned within three years. “This is the first-ever such project in Assam. It will directly help 5,000 farmers and will also give employment to 700 young people of Assam. I am really grateful to PepsiCo for choosing Assam. We will work with farmers so that Assam’s potato is only used for this plant,” the Chief Minister added, urging cultivators in Nalbari, Kamrup, Darrang and other districts to take up specialised chip-grade potato varieties as a second crop after paddy.
The plant has already generated around 700 direct and indirect employment opportunities, with PepsiCo targeting women representation of more than 75 per cent in its workforce. Nearly 120 women employees received 12 weeks of specialised training at the ITI in Nalbari before joining the facility, while additional digital literacy programmes are planned for women workers. Officials said the project would also create downstream opportunities in logistics, warehousing, packaging, MSMEs and other ancillary industries, helping retain local talent within the state rather than forcing youth to seek employment outside Assam.
Beyond manufacturing, the facility is expected to transform Assam’s potato economy by creating an assured market for local farmers. PepsiCo currently works with over 600 farmers in the state and is procuring approximately 7,000 tonnes of chip-grade potatoes this year — the first time such specialised cultivation has been established at scale after extensive trials. The company plans to expand its farmer network to more than 5,000 and scale procurement to around 30,000 tonnes in 2027, with longer-term targets of 55,000 to 60,000 tonnes over the next three to five years and potentially up to 70,000 metric tonnes by 2030. PepsiCo India and South Asia CEO Jagrut Kotecha said the company was looking beyond a single factory to build a wider ecosystem involving farmers, agri-entrepreneurs, local vendors and rural communities. “Through this investment, we are strengthening our manufacturing footprint while creating a positive ripple effect across the value chain, from farmers and local businesses to women, young talent and communities,” Kotecha said. He added that India currently ranks among PepsiCo’s top 13 global anchor markets and that the company hopes to push the country into its top-10 list through expanded capacities in Assam, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. “We remain very bullish on India’s growth potential,” he noted.
The Nalbari plant forms part of PepsiCo’s larger ₹5,700-crore investment commitment in India through 2030 under its Partnership of Progress strategy. Until now the company was supplying the Northeast market from its West Bengal facility; the new unit will cater primarily to regional demand, reducing logistics costs and improving supply reliability. The project is also expected to generate substantial demand for cold storage infrastructure, estimated at around 60,000 tonnes, and a ₹35-crore cold storage facility with a capacity of about 10,000 tonnes is planned nearby. The Assam government, PepsiCo and the State Bank of India have entered into an understanding to help farmers access specialised potato seeds through Kisan Credit Cards, while the company continues to provide agronomy support, technology, training and quality seeds.
Chief Minister Sarma stressed that the market for the produce was assured. “PepsiCo will give potato chip-grade seeds to the farmers and the market is assured. If something is produced with their seeds, they will take it back. The only thing is we have to put in our hard work,” he said. The chips produced at Banekuchi will carry the identity “Made in Banekuchi, Nalbari, Assam” and reach consumers across the country, bringing greater visibility to the state on India’s industrial map. Officials present at the ceremony, including ministers Biswajit Daimary and Jayanta Mallabaruah as well as local legislators, described the project as a tangible demonstration that Assam can attract large-scale, high-quality manufacturing investments while integrating its agricultural base with modern food processing. As commercial production begins, the plant is widely seen as a potential template for further industrial and agricultural transformation in Assam and the wider Northeast, with attention now focused on how rapidly the farmer network expands and how effectively the supporting cold-chain infrastructure develops.
