Lucknow-based SLMG Beverages Pvt. Ltd, a major Coca-Cola bottler in India, plans to invest up to $1 billion by 2030 to expand its production capacity in the populous states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, according to a company executive. The Ladhani family, which owns SLMG and also has hospitality interests, will also invest ₹4,000 crore in hotel development.
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The outlay comes as the family—that first entered the bottling business back in 1997—plans to double its beverage business by the end of the decade. As the beverage company’s bottler for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, SLMG Beverages (part of the Ladhani Group) operates 11 bottling units, distributing its products to 1.5 million retail outlets.
“We’ve already invested about $1.5 billion in the last 20 years in the bottling business (Coca-Cola). We will probably invest another $1 billion in the next five years. We are very, very confident of this business,” Paritosh Ladhani, joint managing director, SLMG Beverages and second-generation entrepreneur, said in an interview with Mint in the capital on Wednesday.
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The company could touch ₹10,000 crore in gross revenues by the end of the net fiscal. “It took us 20 years to reach ₹10,000 crore; it will take us five years to double that number,” Ladhani said.
SLMG is Coca-Cola’s largest independent bottler in India, contributing 23% to the beverage maker’s national volumes. Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB), the company-owned bottling operation, is still the largest bottler.
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The Atlanta-based beverage company works with local bottling partners worldwide, who manufacture and distribute its beverages in select markets or territories. It sells brands such as Thums-Up, Sprite, Coca-Cola and Minute Maid in India.
Since 2019, Coca-Cola India, through its subsidiaries, has been divesting its bottling operations in the country—a process it said would help it streamline supply chains and help with faster execution.
In 2024, SLMG was given rights for the entire Bihar territory in addition to its existing presence in Uttar Pradesh.
SLMG has a pipeline of new bottling plants in both Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
“We have started a plant in Buxar, Bihar, with an investment of ₹1,200 crore. Then we are getting into Bijnor (Uttar Pradesh) in a couple of years, which will take care of west UP, we have another plant coming up in Bihar, probably in Hajipur. The expansion will be a mix of brownfield and greenfield projects,” he added.
Increased electrification, improved highway connectivity, and greater household refrigerator penetration have helped Coca-Cola and PepsiCo expand their beverage businesses in India.
India is the beverage maker’s fifth largest market globally.
Last month, Kandhari Global Beverages Pvt. Ltd, another Coca-Cola India bottler, announced its largest acquisition to date: a new plant from Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd (HCCB) in Sanand, Gujarat. The company plans to expand in overseas markets and list its shares on stock exchanges if and when its US partner decides the time is right.
Ladhani said the group will be “more than happy” to acquire rights to additional territories in the future.
In addition to its beverage operations, the Ladhani family has also diversified into hospitality, establishing its hotel business in 2009. The family is considering a further investment of ₹4,000 crore to grow its hotel portfolio.
“We have the Taj in Agra. We’re doing more properties with Taj Vivanta in Haridwar as well as Ayodhya. We are also planning to bring The Four Seasons to Agra along with a few more Oberoi Nature properties. We have demarcated around ₹4,000 crore to ₹5,000 crore in the next five years for hospitality as well,” he said.
