After its attempt to establish a manufacturing unit in the AMRL Multiproduct Special Economic Zone at Nanguneri was foiled by locals with the support of former MLA M. Appavu, Pepsi decided to have its plant in the SIPCOT Industrial Growth Centre at Gangaikondan.
Its archrival, Coke, has already established a unit through its franchise, South India Bottling Company, which is planning to go in for an expansion.
Since the TWAD Board, as part of the agreement it had signed with the multinational beverage companies, has to supply several lakh litres of water to thee water-intensive units at a ‘throwaway’ price, the farmers’ associations have been appealing to the officials for the past several months, but in vain.
The agitation which was intense in late 2004 and in 2005 when South India Bottling Company established its unit for manufacturing Coke’s products has petered out.
