SIG to invest 100 million euro on Gujarat plant, expects India to be in top ten markets

Leading packaging solutions provider SIG expects India to be among the top ten markets globally and will invest around 100 million Euro (Rs 878.8 crore) to set up its first plant here, its CEO Samuel Sigrist said on Wednesday. The company, which entered into the Indian market in 2018, has witnessed a "phenomenal growth" here, and expects it to "play a very important role for us going forward", he added. It is quite encouraged by the growth of the beverage industry in India, coupled with factors like the growing economy, income of the people and packed food consumption, he said. When asked whether India would figure in its top 10 markets in mid-terms (around 5 years) Sigrist said: "Easily. Our five-year CAGR for the packaged dairy business is in kind of the high teens, around 15-17 per cent". "We normally outgrow the market. We are the new entrant and the growth opportunity here is amazing. India will, over time, become a very, very sizable market price set. We are super excited," he added. However, he said, currently, India is small right now but is growing at a fast pace. Moreover, with the new plant and growth of the beverage industry in India, it would scale up. SIG on Wednesday laid the foundation of its first aseptic carton plant in India, where it is investing 60 million euros (approx. Rs 525.98 crore) on capex as machinery and around 40 million euros (Rs 351.36 crore) on the lease agreement for land and building in the first phase. "The initial commitment comes close to 100 million Euros," he said. Commercial production is anticipated to commence at its India facility by the end of 2024. The Ahmedabad-based plant will cater to its growing dairy and non-carbonated soft drink filler base in the country. "The investment will be made in a phased manner over the period of 2023-2025 to reach a production capacity of up to 4 billion packs per annum. Subsequent investments are expected to increase capacity up to 10 billion packs per annum," the company said. In the first phase, SIG would use imported materials to manufacture its aseptic cartons but in the second phase, it would source the raw materials locally, he added. SIG has installed 40 packaging machines here and is working with some of India's leading juice and dairy players, including Amul, Parle, Coca-Cola, Dabur, Varun Beverages and ITC. It also lauded India's economic environment, saying it is very "business friendly". Globally SIG gets around 70 per cent of the packaging for the dairy sector, ranging from cow milk, yoghurt drinks, and cream to sweetened condensed milk, while 20 per cent in beverages and 10 per cent in the foods segment. SIG expects its dairy segment to grow a bit faster over the years. SIG, working with McDonald's and Starbucks in markets like the US, is also looking for potential from the QSR industry here. The segment is also growing rapidly in India. It also has bag-in-box and Spouted Pouches business here. Founded in 1853, SIG is headquartered in Neuhausen, Switzerland. In 2022, SIG produced 49 billion packs and generated 3.1 billion euro.

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SIG to invest 100 million euro on Gujarat plant, expects India to be in top ten markets

In the first phase, SIG would use imported materials to manufacture its aseptic cartons but in the second phase, it would source the raw materials locally.

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