Pepsi steps up Asian water commitment

Pepsi’s charitable arm has announced major new grants to provide access to safe water and sanitation for people in rural areas of Bangladesh and India.

The grants, totalling $7.6 million (£4.7m), will be channelled by the PepsiCo Foundation through two specialist NGOs, WaterPartners and Safe Water Network, which will ‘promote and accelerate sustainable approaches to water access, conservation and usage in underserved regions’.

‘One of the major goals of PepsiCo Foundation is to develop sustainable partnerships that will bring clean, safe water to populations in need,’ said Indra Nooyi, chairman of PepsiCo and PepsiCo Foundation. ‘Our relationships with WaterPartners and the Safe Water Network will help create and maintain long-term, secure water supplies, improving the quality of life across these global communities.’

PepsiCo Foundation's contribution to WaterPartners should bring clean water to 120,000 people across India over the course of three years, with much of the money to be put into micro-credit schemes. Safe Water Network will concentrate on both India and Bangladesh, as well as Ghana in Africa.