Guwahati: FMCG major Britannia Industries on Tuesday announced that it is planning to increase the women workforce at its largest northeastern plant near Guwahati to 65 percent this year.

The company currently employs 1,367 people through permanent and contract modes, of which 60 percent are women, Britannia Industries Regional Manufacturing Head (East) Kishor Vinayak Kulkarni said at the plant, located at Rampur in Kamrup district of Assam.

"Women are an important constituent of our society as well as our company. We are steadily increasing the number of women employees at our manufacturing facility over the years. We are looking forward to closing the 2022 calendar year with 65 percent women in our workforce," he told PTI.

Kulkarni, however, did not share any figure regarding the total number of employees the company is likely to have by the end of this year.

"The exact number of employees that we are going to hire during the year is difficult to say at this moment. As the production demand grows, the overall workforce capacity is set to grow. We are clear that the women employees will be 65 percent of the total workforce," he added.

The plant has an installed daily production capacity of 260 tonnes and the present capacity utilisation stands at 210-240 tonnes, Kulkarni said.

The facility manufactures six different products, including the company's flagship brands Good Day, Marie Gold, and Nutrichoice, he added.

"Britannia reviews the progress of its diversity programme every month and measures progress against targets across metrics such as recruitment, engagement, promotion, and attrition.

"Women in leadership roles have played an important role in facilitating a more inclusive environment, especially in manufacturing operations," Kulkarni said.

The Wadia Group inaugurated the plant at Rampur near Guwahati in July 2018. It had invested Rs 170 crore to set up Britannia's largest greenfield manufacturing facility of that time.

Source: PTI