The Hindu Business Line : Coke may restart Palakkad unit after State Govt nod

COCA-COLA India (CCI) plans to reopen its Palakkad unit from June 15 if the Kerala Government allows it to restart operations, the Vice-President (Public Affairs), Mr Sunil Gupta, said while denying reports that the company would close down the plant.

The Government had ordered closure of the plant operations till the onset of monsoons after agitations broke out against the unit. Coke was accused of depleting groundwater in the area by drawing excess water.

The company expects the monsoon to set in Kerala by June 15, and it is hopeful of starting operations thereafter.

In an informal chat with newspersons here on Wednesday, Mr Gupta said CCI would establish a "water trust" that would fund initiatives aimed at water harvesting across the country. The company was currently working out the details of the proposed trust, which would be set up this year.

The company would also establish rainwater-harvesting structures on a large-scale across the country, besides encouraging watershed development activities.

According to Mr Gupta, Coca-Cola will spread to 40,000 more villages in the country this year, taking the number of villages covered to two lakh. The company, which has put in an investment of $70 million in the current year, expects the per capita consumption of soft drinks in the country to increase from 10 bottles last year to 15 bottles this year. The consumer base is also estimated to increase from 240 million last year to 300 million this year.

He said the consumption of the Sprite brand was growing by 107 per cent across the country and by 250 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. The consumption of the fruit juice, Maaza, was also increasing by over 250 per cent in Andhra Pradesh.

Coco-Cola has 1.5 lakh dealers in the State, which accounted for 22 per cent of its sales. It has seven plants, of which five were company-owned and two were franchisee units.

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