Coca-Cola to invest $2 billion in 5 years

NEW DELHI: Coca-Cola and its bottling partners will invest $2 billion, (about 10,000 crore) in India over five years starting 2012, making it the single largest investment of the world's largest soft drinks maker in one phase since it re-entered the country 18 years back.

The move, announced here on Monday, once again puts the spotlight on how critical growth in emerging markets like India is for multinational firms dealing with slowdown or stagnant sales in the US and European markets. "India has passed a certain threshold for the Coca-Cola system; we see this market as a determining factor in our growth story," said Ahmet C Bozer, Coca-Cola's president, Eurasia and Africa Group, who announced the big-ticket investment.

"If we continue to do the right things each day, it would not surprise me if India becomes one of the top five markets for the company globally by the end of this decade," he said. Atul Singh, president & CEO, Coca-Cola India and South West Asia, said the new investments will be infused across infrastructure development, brand building, sustainability programmes, innovation, marketing and distribution expansion.