Abbott opens nutrition products facility in Gujarat

Abbott Laboratories, the US-headquartered pharmaceutical and health care products company, has inaugurated first greenfield facility for nutrition products at Jhagadia in Bharuch district of Gujarat. The facility, built with an investment of Rs 450 crore, has created 400 jobs.
 
On the eve of the launch, John Landgraf, Executive Vice President, Global Nutrition, Abbott, said, “We want to be closer to our customer in India. This plant will ensure we make our own products here, monitor their quality and cater to specific health needs of local communities. We love the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’.”
 
Abbott currently sells 10 nutrition products in India and will initially manufacture at least six of these here. “These six are our high-value products, contributing 90-95 per cent of our total nutrition sales. Our current focus will be on these and we will expand the portfolio, depending on the need in the market,” said Amal Kelshikar, Managing Director, Abbott Nutrition. He said the new unit's manufacturing capacity was 40 million pounds annually, expandable.
 
The latest investment in the nutritional segment is expected to help the company expand in the segment. Nutrition is one of the major global businesses for Abbott.
 
The company plans to locally source 80% of the raw material for the new plant's products. So far, the company was importing most of these from its Singapore and European facilities.