Dabur Lanka’s state-of-art $ 16 m fruit beverage plant opens

Dabur Lanka Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of India’s leading consumer goods maker Dabur India Ltd., on Friday inaugurated its state-of-the-art packaged fruit-based beverage manufacturing facility at Meerigama.

The new facility, Dabur’s first in the country, was inaugurated by Minister of Economic Development Basil Rajapaksa.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by the representatives of Government of Sri Lanka. Also present were Indian High Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha, Dabur India Ltd. Chairman Dr. Anand C. Burman and Dabur India Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Sunil Duggal.

Established under an agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka, this new manufacturing facility has been set up with an initial investment of $16 million and with a capacity to produce 2.8 lakh cases of fruit-based beverages every month. The greenfield project is located at Yakadagala Estate, Kotadeniyawa, District Gampha, Mirigama, Sri Lanka.

“Our plant in Sri Lanka represents a key milestone for Dabur,” said Dr. Anand C. Burman. “I want to recognise the support from the State of Sri Lanka and our employees here who have helped make this plant a reality and will lead us to greater success both in the export markets and well as in the island nation,” he added.

The new Sri Lanka plant will initially employ around 75 people at start of production in May 2013, and the intention is to increase the number of staff gradually to keep pace with demand and capacity expansion. It will also offer the opportunity of providing indirect employment opportunities for hundreds of people in this country.

The new plant has been set up in full compliance with the green principles by utilising environment-friendly building practices during construction. Technology interventions have also been put in place to continuously monitor waste generation and constantly improve effluent waste treatment at the plant.

Dabur Lanka had signed an agreement with the Board of Investment of Sri Lanka in September 2011 to establish this venture.

“The demand for our fruit-based juices and beverages under the Réal brand has been reporting strong growth month-on-month. Dabur’s Food business had reported an over 25% growth in 2012-13 despite the supply constraints. As continued high growth is expected in the future too, we are setting up this new facility to augment our production capacity for fruit-based beverages and meet the growing demand for our products. Building a manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka was an important strategic decision for Dabur as manufacturing presence here gives us a competitive edge that we intend to utilize in full,” Duggal said.