According to Mark Schneider, the Swiss food beverage conglomerate Nestle is planning to invest 5,000 crore in India over the next three-and-a-half years. This investment of Rs 5,000 will be used to invest in capital expenditure of Capex to build new plants, acquisitions and expand the product portfolio of the company. The investment, subject to clearances and approvals, would help in creating more job opportunities in the domestic market.
Schneider said the Swiss food company has an investment plan of Rs 5,000 crore through 2025, which is a result of the investment plans for the Indian market. Nestle, which operates 9 plants and employs roughly 6,000 people across the country, is looking at new locations to expand manufacturing capacity.
Schneider said when you look at the investment plan and the investment plan through 2025, we are talking about Rs 5,000 crore and that compares to Rs 8,000 crore over the last 60 years when we started manufacturing in this country. He further stated that Nestle, which has been present in India for over 110 years, started its manufacturing activity in the early 1960s. India is one of the top ten markets of Nestle.
Schneider said in 1961 that we started our first manufacturing site and so in the whole time period it has been Rs 8,000 crore and now in the next three years it will be Rs 5,000 crore. The investment is not just for accelerating and ramping up Capex, but it will also go into development works, brand building and meaningful contributions on the ground.
Suresh Narayanan, Chairman and Managing Director of Nestle India, said that accelerating the core business of the company would be a priority. He said it is a highly accelerated plan that we are looking at. The plan has three pivots, such as the strong momentum of growth the company has had in the last 22 quarters, as per Narayanan. The second part is to do it sustainably, and Nestle has taken a lot of steps in that direction.
The third part is to leverage new opportunities for growth, whether it's plant-based proteins, healthy ageing, healthy snacking, leveraging some of the Indian grains into products for the company, said Narayanan.
Schneider added that Nestle India's business has maintained consistency at very high levels for 22 quarters, which is outstanding and truly stunning and is a complete willingness for open chequebook support every step of the way.
The investment would be focused on organic growth and putting money into existing factories or research centres. Schneider said that if we see interesting opportunities for M&A, we will be very happy to explore those.
Narayanan said that it is going to be secular across categories, while explaining the investment and capacities details. It is not going to be in particular categories. He said that we are looking at new locations for factories as well. It could be a part of the ambition that has been set as a company. He said that the ambition to invest Rs 5,000 crore would have resulted in a significant increase in direct and indirect employment.