MUMBAI: The Indian beverages market is expanding fast enough to accommodate all its major players simultaneously, Ravi Jaipuria, chairman of Varun Beverages Limited, recently said in an analyst call — a rare public acknowledgement from PepsiCo's largest bottler that Reliance-backed Campa Cola and Coca-Cola are both gaining ground in India.
"There is definitely an uptick. Overall industry is growing, there is Campa in the market, they are growing the volumes in the market, and even Coke is growing," Jaipuria told analysts on the company's Q1 CY2026 earnings call on April 27. "We do not know if we are growing faster, but definitely market is growing at a huge pace."
Varun Beverages bottles and distributes PepsiCo brands including Pepsi, 7UP, Mountain Dew and Sting across India and several international markets. Reliance-backed Campa is competing with the two international cola brands – Pepsi and Coke – and has recently claimed that it has become the country’s top four carbonated beverage players in less than two years since its re-launch.
Campa now 4th largest cola brand
Reliance Consumer Products (RCPL) relaunched the legacy cola brand in 2022 at aggressive price points, and it has since become the most visible new entrant in a market long dominated by Pepsi and Coca-Cola. According to RCPL, Campa recorded annual revenues of Rs 4,700 crore in FY26.
The company in an analyst call says the brand has successfully capitalised on the summer season and a nationwide distribution network of over 3 million retail outlets.
According to the Reliance Industries’ latest earnings call, the FMCG division closed the financial year 2025-26 with total revenues of Rs 22,000 Crores — a two-fold (100%) growth over the previous year. For the fourth quarter alone, it generated Rs 7,350 crores.
The growth of the FMCG business is being led by the beverages business, with the total beverage category (which includes Campa, packaged drinking water, and functional drinks) generating revenues of over Rs 6,000 crores for the full year. Apart from Campa, the company’s drinking water – Independence – is also a growth driver. Reliance claims that Independence has already become the third-largest packaged water player in India.
The recent acquisition of Australia’s Goodness Group signals a move into premium functional beverages and health drinks. The company has also acquired the Tamil Nadu-based millet brand Manna to further broaden its essential beverages portfolio.
Ashutosh Goyal, leading FMCG vertical, attributed the success to a 360-degree approach combining aggressive manufacturing (12 plants across India, with integrated food parks coming up) with massive distribution depth. "We are now servicing the Indian market through 5,000+ distributors and about 3 million outlets," Goyal said.
Growth for all
Varun Beverages Jaipuria, however, sees this as a positive development rather than a threat. He pointed to a combined addition of roughly half a million chilling units annually across Campa, Coke and Varun Beverages, alongside a further 400,000–500,000 coolers being purchased independently by retail outlets. Together, he said, this amounts to nearly a million new refrigeration points entering the Indian market every year — infrastructure that expands consumption rather than merely redistributing it.
"Whoever does a good go-to-market and whoever can expand his distribution will win the game," Jaipuria said.
Varun Beverages reported a 14.4% volume growth in India for the January–March 2026 quarter, its strongest performance in several quarters, aided partly by a favourable base — the same period last year was disrupted by unseasonal rains. The company said it plans to add as many as half a million new retail outlets in calendar year 2026, up from its usual pace of 300,000–400,000.
Jaipuria said he expects double-digit growth to continue for the next five to ten years, underpinned by rising incomes, urbanisation and what he described as structurally low per-capita beverage consumption in India.
Coca Cola, the global beverages giant, had reported over Rs 5,000 crore in revenue and over Rs 600 crore in profit in FY25 in India.