Global pet food major Mars Inc has announced an investment of Rs. 800 crores to commence phase-II expansion in Telangana. Mars Petcare has a plant with a fixed capital investment of Rs 200 Crores 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 crores to Rs. 1,500 crores. On December 17, 2021, Mars Petcare had signed an MoU with the Government of Telangana for expansion of their manufacturing plant in Telangana with an additional investment of Rs 500 Cr.
Telangana State delegation led by the Industries Minister KT Rama Rao met with Mr. 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 to commence phase-II expansion of their plant in Siddipet.
Telangana government and Mars Inc agreed to get into a broad base partnership to establish initiatives to improve pet care and pet nutrition in the country. Possibilities around creation of a comprehensive base for Mars Inc in areas such R&D, digital transformation, agri supply chains, innovation and sustainability were also discussed at the meeting.
About Mars Inc
Mars is the fourth-largest privately held 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. The Mars team has also worked closely with various government agencies on empowering farmer producer companies and self-help groups in the state for direct farm gate procurement of agriculture produce such as maize. They have also worked closely to establish viable value chains for aggregation of poultry waste from MEPMA groups.