Abbott to open Rs 450-cr nutrition products plant in Gujarat

NEW DELHI: Global healthcare major Abbott will open its manufacturing plant for nutrition products tomorrow in Gujarat where it has invested Rs 450 crore as part of its plans to strengthen presence in India. With the opening of the new plant, the company is also adding 400 new jobs taking its overall employee count in the nutrition segment in India to 1,150.

"The manufacturing plant reflects our commitment to India. Earlier, we had set up an R&D centre in Bengaluru in May 2012. This will take our employee strength in the country to around 1,150," Abbott Nutrition India Managing Director Amal Kelshikar told .

The new facility is the company's third manufacturing site in India, with two others being pharmaceutical units in Baddi and Goa. The new plant will be formally inaugurated by state Chief Minister Anandiben Patel tomorrow.

Kelshikar said the new plant will have a manufacturing capacity of 40 million pounds per annum and the company could consider enhancing it or adding a new plant when the current capacity is fully utilised.

Stressing on the company's focus on India, Abbott Global Nutrition Executive Vice President John Landgraf said: "We believe that our ongoing commitment represents an investment in a healthier India by providing high-quality nutritional products that will meet the health needs of local consumers."

When asked if the company was also looking for taking the inorganic route for growth in India, Landgraf said the company is always open to the idea but did not elaborate. "Abbott plans to locally source up to 80 per cent of ingredients for new plant in India and is developing programme to provide infrastructure and training to dairy farmers," the company said.

Six nutrition products including Similac, PediaSure, Ensure, Mama's Best and Glucerna will be manufactured in the Gujarat plant, it added. Globally Abbott has presence in more than 150 countries and employes around 69,000 people. In India, it has more than 14,000 employees.