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Informist, Tuesday, Jun. 2, 2026

 

--W Bengal official: Reliance Retail, PepsiCo in talks to buy more agri pdts 

--W Bengal official: PepsiCo may set up potato starch extraction unit in state 

--Bengal official: Reliance Fresh may increase agri pdt sourcing substantially 

 

By Avishek Rakshit

 

KOLKATA – While a new industrial and data policy to boost investment is in the works in West Bengal, the state government has initiated talks with companies including Reliance Retail Ltd. and PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. to step up sourcing of agricultural commodities from the state. The US-based cola major may also set up a potato processing plant in the state in case talks fructify, a senior official at the state's agricultural marketing department told Informist. 

 

"We had preliminary discussion with them and they are interested to increase their sourcing from West Bengal," an official at the West Bengal State Agricultural Marketing Board said. "Reliance already procures agricultural produce from the farmers via their collection centres in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Hooghly, and Nadia districts. They also source some from the local wholesale markets as well. Now, they are looking to increase the procurement substantially." 

 

Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd., procures agricultural commodities across India and sells them through Reliance Fresh brand. The company operates over 2,700 grocery stores and sells over 200 tonnes of fruits and over 300 tonnes of vegetables every day. Reliance Retail's sourcing ecosystem is based on procurement from small producers and manufacturers to modernise their operations to produce high quality products more efficiently.

 

West Bengal annually produces around 30 million tonnes of vegetables which is roughly 14% of the 216 million tonne of total annual vegetable production in India, making the state one of the top vegetable producers. West Bengal, which also produces 14-15 million tonnes of potato annually, is the second-largest producer of potato in India. 

 

"We are also in talks with PepsiCo which is considering setting up operations related to extraction of potato starch and making potato starch powder. Talks with them are at a preliminary stage now, but if it proceeds, we can help them set up a plant for this purpose here," the senior government official said. 

 

The possible location of the plant could be near the Sankrail Industrial Park which is 28 km away from Kolkata. PepsiCo already has a unit in this park which makes potato chips and procures potato from the state. PepsiCo also sources corn from Bihar and West Bengal to make the Doritos brand of nachos at this plant. Other products made from this factory include Kurkure and Cheetos brand of packaged snacks. 

 

An industry official estimates that PepsiCo procures over 200,000 tonnes of potatoes from West Bengal every year which roughly accounts for about one-third of the company's total potato procurement across all of India. The company primarily sources potatoes from farming arrangements with farmers in Hooghly, Bardhaman, and Bankura districts in the state.

 

After coming to power in May, the Bharatiya Janata Party government is currently working on a major overhaul of the state's industrial policy which is targeted to address key concerns around land acquisition, industrial infrastructure, logistics, power availability, and ease-of-doing business. The government is consulting senior bureaucrats, economists, policy experts, and industry leaders for the same.

 

The new industrial policy in works may also need modification or repeal of the Urban Land (Ceiling and Regulation) Act, 1976 which caps individual and corporate holdings of vacant urban land.

 

Earlier, state BJP president and Rajya Sabha member, Samik Bhattacharya had said that the West Bengal government will come up with a new industry and data policy within 100 days of the formation of the government. The BJP government took office on May 9.

 

At 1256 IST, shares of Reliance Industries traded at INR 1,311.40 on the National Stock Exchange, slightly down from Monday.  End 

 

IST, or Indian Standard Time, is five-and-a-half hours ahead of GMT

 

Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury

 

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