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Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, March 26

EVEN as the soft drink battle rages on, another one is taking shape — in the Rs 1,000-crore bottled water market.

While Mr Ramesh Chauhan's Bisleri remains the clear market leader in this market with over 40 per cent share, both Pepsi Foods and Coca-Cola are upping the ante on their respective bottled water brands.

Coca-Cola is planning to double the bottling capacity for its water brand — Kinley — in the current year, in addition to the 15 existing plants for the brand. The soft drink major has identified 10-15 sites for additional plants for water in this calendar year, company sources said.

These will be a combination of company-owned plants, franchisee operations and contract packers. Bareilly, Bangalore and Hyderabad are among the markets where the fresh bottling lines will either be set up or contracted, the sources added.

Of the 15 existing bottling plants for Kinley, the bigger ones are in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa and Bangalore.

Kinley, which was launched in year 2000, has a 28 per cent share of the bottled water market. The brand is available in pack sizes of 500 ml, 1-litre, 1.5-litre, 2-litre, 5-litre, 20-litre and 25-litre. While the Kinley 500-ml bottle is priced at Rs 6, the 2-litre bottle is available for Rs 17.

A two-ad electronic campaign for brand Kinley created by Ogilvy & Mather is expected to hit the tube this weekend.

Pepsi Foods, on the other hand, is planning three more bottling plants for Aquafina — its water brand — by the end of next month, Pepsi Foods' spokesperson said.

These will be in addition to the existing six plants for Aquafina, four of which are company-owned and two are franchisees. These are in Roha in Maharashtra, Bangalore, Kolkata and Delhi. Aquafina has 11 per cent share of the bottled water market.

On the advertising front, a fresh communication strategy on electronic media is being worked on through HTA, the Pepsi Foods' ad agency. This is in addition to a new outdoor campaign which is currently being rolled out in the metros and bigger cities.

Other players in the bottled water market include Pure Life from Nestle, Bailley and Hello among others. Meanwhile, the Indian Railways is planning to launch Rail Neer, its own bottled water brand.

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