Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday opened Rs. 550-crore manufacturing plant of direct-marketing company Amway India at Nilakottai in Dindugul district through video conferencing. This is Amway’s first plant in India and third plant outside the U.S. after China and Vietnam.

Amway had acquired 50 acres of land in Nilakottai in 2012 after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth Rs. 300 crore with SIPCOT. This outlay was later revised to Rs. 550 crore in 2015 during the Global Investors Meet 2015 that was held in September.

During GIM, Amway had said that this additional Rs. 250 crore would be for nutrition supplement business.

“Overall, we have invested more than Rs. 800 crore in India,” said Anshu Budhraja, CEO of Amway India. The plant was completed in 26 months which spoke volumes of the industry-friendly climate in Tamil Nadu, he said.

This facility will have capacity to manufacture 1.2 billion tablets and soft gels, 7 million canisters of drink mixes, 19 million cosmetic jars, bottles and tubes and 60 million toothpastes annually. The firm expects a turnover of Rs. 6,500 crore from the plant. Amway has spent in India more than 30 per cent of the $335 million allocated for global expansion.

The company is planning to expand its product base and come out with more products in 2016.

The high quality cookware that Amway is planning to launch in early 2017 will also be produced in this manufacturing plant.

According to Amway, the plant will provide direct employment to more than 500 people and indirect employment to 1,000 people.