MARS Petcare India signs MoU with Telangana government for investing Rs 500-crore in factory expansion

Brownfield investment by India’s leading pet nutrition company will meet rising demand, create jobs, support Make in India programme and fuel Asia-wide exports

by Suman Gupta

December 2021|Mumbai: The country’s leading pet food company, MARS Petcare India, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Telangana government on Thursday for an expansion of its Hyderabad petfood factory. MARS Petcare will invest Rs 500 crore in India to keep up with the rising demand for manufactured pet food and to fuel Asia-wide exports. The company received its incentive approval on December 16, 2021, from Shri. KT Rama Rao, Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Telangana.

The brownfield investment will expand the plant’s capacity by adding a second dry extruder line. It will also facilitate the expansion of the packing line capacity, upgrade the utility system and the white space to support growth along with required extensions in utilities. This will augment capacity by almost 65 KT to satisfy the demand not only in India but across Asia for dry pet food, supporting growth of the state, country, MARS Petcare and an exponentially growing category.

This investment will be a significant contributor to the growth of the local community, creating more employment and upskilling local manpower. The company will hire 180 to 200 people in different roles, providing them with thorough onboarding and training. In keeping with its focus on gender diversity, this will also mean significantly more jobs for women that will contribute towards strengthening society and improve the overall well-being of communities around the plant. MARS Petcare will also continue to contribute towards the welfare of villages in Siddipet district.

In addition, it will help grow local businesses from where raw materials will be sourced. Keeping in mind that this project is planned to be compliant with all relevant MARS global standards and local regulatory requirements – both, engineering and Q&FS standards – there will be an upgradation of the capabilities of suppliers as well as support in capacity building.

Ganesh Ramani, Managing Director, MARS Petcare, said: “We started our first manufacturing plant in Hyderabad in 2008. Our continuing efforts to educate pet parents and consumers about manufactured pet food have resulted in industry growth of 16% in 2019 and more than 20% in 2020. MARS Petcare retained a strong lead in the pet food market in both years. In 2021, we gained market share and outpaced the category growth that is expected to be 35% to 40%. The expansion will help us keep up with India’s increasing demand and create multiple jobs for the local population. We thank the government of Telangana and Shri. KT Rama Rao for their constant support over the years. Our experience in working with the government authorities in Telangana has been superlative and we are confident that this will pave way for a very successful expansion in the future. It is their support that has encouraged this brownfield investment, and I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you for providing us with speedy approvals and substantial incentives.”

Shri. KT Rama Rao, Minister of Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Telangana said: “The Government of Telangana believes in providing ease of doing business in our state. We have been very proactive with providing approvals and facilitating investment through any support needed by industries. MARS Petcare has had a decade long presence in Telangana with successful factory operations, and now we will support their brownfield expansion in our state. We are confident that their investments have and will generate jobs and catalyse progress in the region. We would also like to have raw material sourcing agreements with the state for their expansion and are looking at a partnership between Telangana state and Mars Petcare for best business and social progress outcomes.”

About MARS Petcare: For more than a century, MARS, Incorporated has been driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. This idea is at the center of who we have always been as a global, family-owned business. Today, MARS is transforming, innovating, and evolving in ways that affirm our commitment to making a positive impact on the world around us. Across our diverse and expanding portfolio of confectionery, food, and petcare products and services, we employ 133,000 dedicated Associates who are all moving in the same direction: forward. With $40 billion in annual sales, we produce some of the world’s best-loved brands including DOVE®, EXTRA®, M&M’s®, MILKY WAY®, SNICKERS®, TWIX®, ORBIT®, PEDIGREE®, ROYAL CANIN®, SKITTLES®, BEN’S ORIGINAL™, WHISKAS®, COCOAVIA®, and 5™; and take care of half of the world’s pets through our pet health services AniCura, Banfield Pet Hospitals™, BluePearl®, Linnaeus, Pet Partners™, and VCA™. We know we can only be truly successful if our partners and the communities in which we operate prosper as well. The MARS Five Principles – Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom – inspire our Associates to take action every day to help create a world tomorrow in which the planet, its people and pets can thrive.