Gautam Mukkavilli in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

New Delhi, June 4: Frito-Lay — the food division of beverage major PepsiCo India — plans to spend about Rs 500 crore on marketing over the next three years to push Aliva, a baked savoury cracker launched today.

“We want the new product to get as big as Kurkure (PepsiCo’s popular snack),” said Gautham Mukkavilli, president, PepsiCo India.

“We will invest about Rs 500 crore over three years,” he said. The company has opened a unit in Pune for the new cracker, which it said was “targeted at young adults”.

The launch of Aliva is in tune with the company’s plans to repeat the success of Kurkure, and Pepsico plans a large-scale advertising campaign for the product.

Earlier this week, the global soft drink major said it would invest more than Rs 1,000 crore in its beverage operations in India this year.

PepsiCo global chief Indra Nooyi, on her visit to India in 2008, had announced an investment of Rs 2,300 crore till 2011 here.