Campa Cola to open new bottling plant in Bihar with Rs 1,000 cr investment

Campa Cola, the soft drinks brand owned by Reliance Consumer Products Ltd, the FMCG arm of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries, will open a new bottling plant in Bihar.

According to reports, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL)-owned brand will have a new plant on 35 acres of land in the Begusarai district of Bihar, where it will invest around Rs 1,000 crore.

Confirming the development, the state government's agency, Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA) through a post on social media platform 'X' informed that the plot has been allotted to EPIC Agro Product Ltd, a company that produces and distributes Campa Cola.

The upcoming facility will integrate both bottling and manufacturing operations. This marks a significant milestone in Campa Cola's aggressive growth strategy, with a sharp focus on expanding its footprint in eastern and northeastern India.

The move comes just two months after the launch of a similar plant in Assam.

This year in February, RCPL inaugurated a new plant in Guwahati, Assam, strengthening the presence of Campa Cola in Northeast India.

Reliance, which has entered into the fast-growing beverage market in August 2022 after acquiring Campa Cola, is expanding its presence across the country by setting up required infrastructure as supply chain, logistics network and bottling plants.

Campa, which is directly competing with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, leading players in the cola segment, has disrupted the segment with its aggressive pricing and higher margin to retailers. It has forced players to reduce prices in the select markets where it is available.

On January 16, in its Q3 results, Reliance, which has ambitions to become a relevant player into the FMCG segment, said its Campa brand is projected to cross Rs 1,000 crore turnover in FY25.

Commenting on the development, Nuvama Institutional Equities Executive Director (Research) Abneesh Roy said this indicates Campa is now getting more aggressive in the eastern and northeastern parts of the country.

" We expect these investments to continue and expect that eventually Campa will have a pan-India manufacturing and distribution presence," he said.

Under the Campa brand, RCPL has launched a range of beverage variants including cola, orange, lemon, and energy drinks. It has also broadened its beverage portfolio with Raskik, a fruit-based rehydration drink, and Spinner, a performance-oriented sports drink.

To support this scale-up, Reliance has established multiple manufacturing plants across the country. Campa has also made its international debut in the UAE and is gearing up to expand into other Middle Eastern markets, Asian countries, and the African continent.

For Bihar, this is going to be the second big investment from the beverage sector.

Last month, SLMG Beverages, which is setting up a new plant in Bihar at Buxar with an investment of Rs 1,500 crore, said it has plans to open one more similar plant with an additional investment of Rs 1,500 crore.

Ladhani Group, which owns SLMG Beverages, is the largest bottler of Coca-Cola.