PepsiCo chairman Indra Nooyi (centre) with vice-chairman Mike White (left) and CEO (Asia Pacific) Saad Abdul Latif in Gurgaon on Sunday. A Telegraph picture

Gurgaon, Sept. 21: PepsiCo will invest $500 million in India over the next three years, tripling its business in the country.

The funds will be utilised for revamping and expanding operations, research and new product development.

The US-based soft drinks major is open to acquisitions in the domestic food and beverage segment.

“The investment will create 50,000 direct and indirect jobs,” said Indra K. Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, here today.

PepsiCo, which entered India in 1989, has invested around $1 billion in the country.

The company, to undergo a “strategic portfolio transformation”, will be focusing on health snacks and beverages.

Having a turnover of around Rs 2,000-2,500 crore, PepsiCo will launch a range of juices, value-added water brands and health snacks to triple its turnover in five years.

India is among the top 10 markets in terms of dollar turnover for the $39-billion company, officials said. India is also among PepsiCo’s top three fast growing markets.

Pepsi has launched a pilot programme in India and South Africa to develop low-cost health food to combat deficiencies in micro-nutrients. This will be one of the major goals of the company in this decade along with plans to reduce water, electricity and fuel consumption.

The officials said Indian plants had reduced water consumption by two-thirds, saving 2.5 billion litres in the process.

Water consumption at its 28 plants in the country has come down to 2.2-2.6 litres for a litre of beverage from six litres in 2005.

The company is interested in acquisitions. In the past two years, globally, it has taken over several health food and beverage firms such as Bluebird Foods in New Zealand and Naked Juice in US.

Though the officials were unwilling to comment, analysts said the company was likely to bid for brands such as Dabur’s Real.

PepsiCo and rival Coca-Cola are keen on the juice market, which is growing at an annual rate of 30-40 per cent, far higher than the growth rate reported by their carbonated drinks division.

Gautam Mukkavilli, managing director of Pepsi’s FritoLay division, said the snack food segment might also look for takeovers, apart from introducing more products to suit the Indian palate. Kurkure is Pepsi’s snack brand in India.

Food analyst Vikram Gangwani said, “Growth in the years ahead is likely to be in health food and beverages because of the high level of consciousness on health among consumers.”

Nooyi today said Pepsi’s brands were switching over to healthier cooking oils. “About 30 per cent of our beverage portfolio in India are healthier products,” she said.

The company also plans to bring an extended range of Quaker Oat, Gatorade and Tropicana fruit juice brands to India.