Nestlé to raise chocolate, coffee capacities in India

Nestlé India Ltd will invest ₹4,200 crore by 2025 to expand the manufacturing capacity of its noodles, coffee and chocolates portfolio, the packaged foods company’s India chief said, as it spots opportunities in selling both mass and premium products in the country.

- Suneera Tandon

“If you look at from 2020 till the first half of 2023, about ₹2,100 crore has already been spent on capital investments. These are in terms of augmentation of manufacturing capabilities. About a third of it has gone into culinary investments; about another third has gone into chocolates and confections. The balance has gone into nutrition and beverages. Another ₹4,200 crore is being spent from 2023 to 2025. This includes roughly ₹900 crore in the new factory investment in Odisha," Suresh Narayanan, chairman and managing director of Nestlé India, said on Friday.

Earlier this month, Nestlé India received in-principle approval from the Industrial Promotion and Investment Corp. of Odisha Ltd (IPICOL) to build its 10th factory in the country at an investment of ₹894 crore. The factory will start operations over the next two years and will make noodles, chocolates, and confectionery.

“We are creating capacities because we’ve seen that underlying demand is fairly robust," Narayanan said.