— By Plasteurope.com staff — 

Swiss carton packaging manufacturer SIG Combibloc (Neuhausen; www.sig.biz) has announced the opening of a new plant for aseptic carton packaging in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. The plant, which saw an investment of EUR 90 mn, is to have an initial annual production capacity of 4 mn carton packs and is set to employ over 300 people.

India is the world’s largest dairy market and one of the most important countries for juice production. SIG Combibloc sees good growth opportunities for aseptic packaging solutions in the country, as – given the lack of closed cold chains – packaged milk in these packs does not need to be refrigerated.

SIG Combibloc has been present on the Indian market since 2018. In 2023, a production plant for bag-in-box packaging and spouted pouches was opened in Palghar in the state of Maharashtra. Last year, SIG Combibloc achieved double-digit sales growth in India, said CEO Samuel Sigrist, without giving absolute figures.

SIG’s board of directors has already approved plans to install an extrusion line at the Ahmedabad site at a cost of around EUR 50 mn, which is scheduled to come onstream in 2027. The polymer content in a standard composite cartonboard with an aluminium layer is around 20%.

— Translated by Christopher Köbel