Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma, on July 30, inaugurated a Rs 340 crore PepsiCo bottling plant at Mendipathar town in North Garo Hills district. Mendipathar is the only town in the state having a railway head. Calling the project a “blessing” for the state, Sangma said, “This is a symbol of the economic growth that Meghalaya is on track to achieve.
Nobody would have ever imagined that the largest bottling plant in the NE would be right here in Mendipathar.” He said the project would raise aspirations among the youth and stimulate ancillary industries. “We can anticipate that different avenues will come up in the region,” he said.
Spread across 37 acres in the Mendipathar Industrial Area, the bottling unit is expected to generate direct and indirect employment for hundreds of people in the region. Recalling the long-delayed promise of industrial development in Garo Hills, the CM said the Mendipathar industrial area was conceptualised in the 1990s, but saw no investment for over 30 years.