Hyderabad, Nov. 27: Cadbury India, part of global giant Mondelez International, plans to set up a chocolate manufacturing unit at the Sricity special economic zone in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

The company today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the state to set up a plant on 134 acres in four phases.

Set to be Cadbury’s largest manufacturing facility in the Asia-Pacific region, the first phase of the project will become operational by 2015 at an investment of Rs 1,000 crore and produce about one lakh tonnes of chocolates, the company’s managing director Manu Anand said.

The plant will have an overall production capacity of 2.5 lakh tonnes per annum by 2020.

“In the first phase we will produce chocolates and other products in the subsequent phases. All these products will be for domestic consumption only, but a small portion could also be exported,” Anand said.

Cadbury already has plants in Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. It operates in five categories — chocolate confectionery, beverages, biscuits, gum and candy.

Anand, who is also the president of Mondelez International (India and South Asia), today signed the MoU with the state in the presence of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, major industries minister J. Geeta Reddy and industries principal secretary K. Pradeep Chandra.

The chief minister said the Cadbury facility would not only provide direct employment to 1,600 people but also help over 4.5 lakh dairy farmers in the Chittoor district

“Cadbury requires about five lakh litres of milk and 100 tonnes of sugar per day for its first phase of operations. This will give a big boost to the local farmers and help the dairy sector in the district, besides helping the sugar industry to grow,” Reddy said.

The chief minister also laid the foundation stone for the manufacturing facility today.