Mamata inaugurates greenfield vertical factory of Coca-Cola at Raninagar

CM Inaugurated from Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata

EOI | SILIGURI | SEPTEMBER 12, 2022: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday virtually inaugurated from Netaji Indoor Stadium, Kolkata, the first greenfield vertical factory of Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages at WBIDC, Raninagar, Jalpaiguri, the second factory of the company in the state; both located in the same industrial area. 

The factory with four manufacturing units would produce sparkling and juice products. HCCB chairman Neeraj Garg said on the occasion that the company has invested Rs 660 crore inbuilding the factory which was completely digitised could change the future of manufacturing in India. It employed 100 people directly and another 150people indirectly. HCCB signed an MOU with the West Bengal Government 2015-16 at North Bengal Investor's Meet to make this investment.

The construction started in 2019 but the progress of work was impacted by the pandemic. The first factory of the company in the industrial area started in 2000 in which Rs 300 crore had been invested so far. 

Between the two factories, HCCB had invested nearly Rs 1,000crore in the state. "Our older factory already employs170 people directly and 450 indirectly." The new factory has been built on a 6.9 acre plot; a large factory optimized into a small space with a 32-metre-tall building. A conventional factory of the same size would require 45acres.In the new factory, the entire value stream from processing of raw material to dispatch of finished products would be unidirectional to eliminate waste along the way.

While the process flow is largely driven by the natural force of gravity, energy is required to transport the input material to the top of the building. Such a flow makes the factory energy and resource efficient. The factory is also built to be earthquake resistant. The company also announced on the occasion the launch of a career development centre in Siliguri that will train less privilege youth with skills that would make them ready for the job market. HCCB already operates four career development centre across India and have trained over 10,000 students so far. Housing Minister Aroop Biswas, Industry Minister Shashi Panja and North Bengal Development Minister Udayan Guha were physically present in the event.