New Rs 700-cr aluminium can unit will provide jobs to 500: Minister

Hyderabad: IT and Industries Minister D Sridhar Babu revealed on Sunday that 'Bal Beverage Packaging', a company that supplies aluminium cans to the beer, soft drinks, and perfume industries, has come forward to set up a production unit in State with an investment of Rs 700 crore.

He said if the unit starts, about 500 people will get direct employment. Ganesan, head of corporate affairs for 'BAL' India, met the minister at the Secretariat on Sunday. On this occasion, he explained the expansion plans of his organisation to Sridhar Babu.

Sridhar Babu assured him that the State would provide the necessary land and other infrastructure for 'BAL'. He said beer cans found in State were being bottled in Maharashtra. It is said to be within two per cent whereas the use of tins in the packaging of beer in Karnataka and Maharashtra was up to 25 per cent. It has been explained that to allow bottling beer in aluminium tins in the State, some changes had to be made in the excise system.

The minister said he would discuss this with Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Excise Minister Jupalli Krishna Rao. Sridhar Babu said that by packing 500 ml of beer in aluminium cans, the excise duty would get reduced, and the government would get an additional income of Rs 285 crore annually.

Last time during his visit to the US, when he went to the head office of Coca Cola in Atlanta (Georgia), he said the company expressed its readiness to set up a new bottling unit in Peddapalli district. It was explained that the company 'BAL' would make aluminium cans for the coke bottling unit, which would be set up at a cost of Rs 1,000 crore. Sridhar Babu suggested to Ganesan that he submit a complete plan regarding investments.