Likewise, UK-based GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) also hiked its stake in its consumer healthcare arm in India to 72.5 percent from the earlier 43.2 percent stake in a transaction worth Rs 4,800 crore.
Towards, the end of the year, the UK-headquartered firm, which terms India as a key emerging market, also announced plans to raise stake in its Indian pharmaceutical arm for a total consideration of Rs 6,389.02 crore.
The year also saw global beverages and snacks major PepsiCo announcing to invest, along with its partners, Rs 33,000 crore in the Indian operations, as a part of which it announced to set up the company's biggest beverages plant in Andhra Pradesh at an outlay of Rs 1,200 crore.
Signifying the importance of the Indian market, PepsiCo Chairperson and CEO Indra Nooyi said the company was making the investments in order to to more than double the capacity of the business in the country by 2020.
PepsiCo's announcement came more than a year after its arch rival Coca Cola had said it, along with partners, would invest USD 5 billion in India by 2020 on various activities, including setting up of new bottling plants.
The Atlanta-based firm reposed its faith in the Indian market and said it won't slow down its USD 5 billion investment plans in India despite the current slowdown, saying it expects the country to be in its top five global markets within the next seven years.
