Once-bitten Chauhan’ll bottle water on his own  ( July '11,2008, DNA)

When four-fifths of his bottlers decided to shift alliance to Coca-Cola in the nineties, Ramesh Chauhan, chairman of Bisleri International, had no option but to sell his flagship brands Thums Up and Limca to the Atlanta-based beverage giant.

The lesson has been well-learnt.
Today, as Chauhan rolls out Bisleri mineral water nationally, he’s doing so by adding one bottling plant a month —- by investing directly through flagship firm Bisleri International.
“Right now we own 50 bottling plants and we are opening one every month. Each one needs an investment of Rs 5 crore plus the distribution and working capital costs,” he told DNA Money in an interview.
Chauhan says this will continue for a while, and give a 50% growth to his business, until he meets the demand for bottled water sufficiently.
Bisleri is the pioneer of bottled water in the country.
The brand became the focus of Chauhan’s attention ever since he sold out to Coke. It is the leader with almost 60% market share in the organised bottled-water sector.
This Rs 2,000 crore business has been growing at 35% and Chauhan feels there is immense potential.
In 1967, Chauhan had bought the Italian company Bisleri company named after the founder of the company, Fellici Bisleri.
The reason for buying that company, which had a presence in India, was not mineral water but to market soda water. Today Bisleri has become the core business.
“The market is so huge that I don’t know when we can satisfy it. The Mumbai market itself should be selling ten times what we are selling today. The market is already there and we just have to build on our reach to tap it,” he said.
Chauhan also believes that the way to beat fakes and fly-by-night operators is by increasing reach.
“Fly-by-night operators and others are sulking now that we are available everywhere and reaching everywhere. The consumer is not paying a lower price whether it is for Bisleri or any other brand. Why should he pay the same for an inferior product?”