Assam has begun providing potatoes to PepsiCo, which is a significant milestone that bodes well for the state’s farmers. To begin, 50 metric tonnes (MT) of potatoes were delivered from Dibrugarh in recent days to a PepsiCo manufacturing unit located outside the state.

PepsiCo intends to purchase 50,000 MT of potatoes per year from state farmers for its future factory in Nalbari, which is scheduled to open in 2025. Meanwhile, PepsiCo has begun educating the state’s farmers to grow high-quality potatoes by giving technical know-how and seeds.

In September 2023, PepsiCo started work on its upcoming plant at Nalbari at an estimated cost of USD93.3.

“The first dispatch has begun from Dibrugarh. Our farmers will be supplying 50,000 metric tonnes of potatoes to the company’s factories,” Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, said, cited by The Sentinel.

According to industry department sources, two trucks carrying 25 tons of potatoes each have begun their journey from Tingkhong to PepsiCo’s facility, with more expected in the following days. People from PepsiCo visited and instructed local farmers on how to gather the finest potatoes from their farms. Assam potatoes will be used to make PepsiCo’s ‘Lays’ brand of potato chips, thus they want to utilize high-quality potatoes.

“The plant at Nalbari will help improve the livelihood of 5,000 farmers in the state. This plant will also generate demand for cold storage units with a capacity of 60,000 metric tonnes over the next few years. Our first manufacturing plant in Assam is a testament to our long-term vision and unwavering support for the economic growth of the country by creating an equitable and sustainable ecosystem,” PepsiCo sources said, cited by the above-mentioned portal.

At present, the contribution of the local agri-allied sector to the state GDP is 21%.