Mondelez India, a prominent snack company known for its popular products like Cadbury Dairy Milk, Oreo biscuits, and Bournvita, has announced plans to significantly expand its manufacturing plant located at Sri City in the Tirupati district of Andhra Pradesh. The foundation stone-laying ceremony for this ambitious project was virtually attended by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, marking a momentous occasion for both the company and the state.
The expansion project, which is set to require a substantial investment of Rs 1,600 crore, was first announced during the Global Investors Summit (GIS) held in Visakhapatnam. According to an official statement from Mondelez India, the primary objective of this investment is to establish a new chocolate capacity plant aimed at meeting the surging demand for its products in India.
Over the course of the next three years, this expansion will enable the Sri City plant to become one of Mondelez’s largest production facilities globally, contributing significantly to the economy and creating job opportunities for the local population.
Venkat Venepally, the company’s supply chain vice president, highlighted that Mondelez has been operating in India for an impressive 75 years, demonstrating the company’s longstanding commitment to the country’s market.
Aside from the expansion of Mondelez’s plant, the foundation stone for a groundnut processing unit at Chigicherala village in Dharmavaram, Sri Satya Sai district, and three tomato processing units were also laid during the ceremony. The groundnut processing unit, with an investment of Rs 75 crore, will operate under a plug-and-play model and support the production of various products like oil, peanut butter, candied peanut bars, roasted peanuts, and oil cake. This unit is projected to offer employment opportunities to around 200 individuals.
The tomato processing units, situated in Kalyandurgam and Kundurpi mandals in Anantapur district, along with Chennekothapalli in Sri Sathya Sai district, will be established at a cost of Rs 5.5 crore each. These units will have an annual capacity of 3,600 tonnes and are expected to benefit approximately 3,588 farmers by facilitating sorting, washing, drying, and segregating 1.5 MT of tomatoes per hour, among other processes.
Additionally, the Chief Minister inaugurated 43 cold storage facilities and 421 collection centres, representing an investment of Rs 63 crore, to provide improved post-harvest facilities for farmers. Furthermore, under the ‘Operation Greens’ initiative, four primary processing centres for tomatoes, millet processing units, and 100 onion solar dehydration units were also inaugurated, further promoting agricultural development and employment in the region.