HYDERABAD: Global pet food major Mars Inc. announced an investment of Rs 800 crore to commence phase-II expansion of their manufacturing plant in Telangana. Mars Petcare has a plant with fixed capital investment of Rs 200 crore in Siddipet district where they manufacture pet food under well-known brands such as Pedigree and Whiskers.
The latest announcement takes the total fixed capital investment of Mars Inc. in the State from Rs 200 crore to Rs 1,500 crore. On December 17, 2021, Mars Petcare signed an MoU with the State government for the expansion of their manufacturing plant in Telangana with an additional investment of Rs 500 crore.
Telangana State delegation led by the IT and Industries Minister KT Rama Rao met Sekhar Krishnamoorthy, Chief Data and Analytics Officer for Pet Nutrition at Mars Inc. in New York. Given the rapid growth in the pet food market in India, Mars has expressed interest in commencing phase-II expansion of their plant in Siddipet.
Telangana government and Mars Inc. agreed to get into a broad-based partnership to establish initiatives to improve pet care and pet nutrition in the country. Possibilities around the creation of a comprehensive base for Mars Inc. in areas such as R&D, digital transformation, agri supply chains, innovation and sustainability were also discussed at the meeting.
Mars is the fourth-largest private company in the United States with confectionary and petcare as two large verticals. Mars Petcare has a large presence in Telangana, also being the headquarters of the Petcare division in India.