Indian carbonated soft drinks and non-carbonated beverages company Varun Beverages has inaugurated its 550 crore rupees ($78.5 million) facility in Pathankot, Punjab.
The integrated plant, spread over 41 acres, will manufacture PepsiCo's Tropicana range of fruit juices, dairy-based products, carbonated soft drinks, Aquafina water, Gatorade and Lipton ice tea.
Varun has started trial production in this greenfield production facility, which will be the first fully backward integrated facility to produce PepsiCo's beverage portfolio items.
The new facility is also anticipated to create more than 5,000 direct and indirect jobs in the state. PepsiCo India said that the plant will act as a hub to address the growing demand for its beverage portfolio among consumers in the state and beyond.