The Hindu Business Line : BIS clamps down on bottled water plants; cos contest charge

EVEN as it is well past the January 1 deadline for packaged water companies to comply with the new norms laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for drinking water, the last word on the issue has obviously not been said.

For, while the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) has clamped down on production of some bottled water plants, including those of prominent brands such as Bisleri, Coca-Cola's Kinley and Kingfisher on account of the manufacturers of bottled water either failing to submit test reports on revised pesticide norms or unsatisfactory performance, the companies involved are claiming otherwise.

When contacted by Business Line, Mr Ramesh Chauhan of Parle Bisleri said, "All our test reports have been sent to the BIS, well before the January 1 deadline. And production at all our plants is on."

According to Mr Sunil Gupta, Vice President, Coca-Cola India, one of the three bottling water plants where production has been disallowed does not manufacture Kinley. "We do not have a Kinley water manufacturing facility at Bilaspur; it is erroneous to state that production of Kinley has been disallowed at this plant," Mr Gupta said.

The three Kinley bottling plants against which orders have been issued include Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages in Guwahati; Narmada Drinks in Bilaspur; and Brahmanand Mineral Water in Jamshedpur.

According to the BIS, about 200 bottling water plants across the country have been debarred from using the ISI mark. These include three plants of Kinley, eight of Bisleri and two plants manufacturing Kingfisher.

Coca-Cola India said that it is in the process of complying with the new bottled water norms laid down by the BIS. "While Coca-Cola does not have a Kinley water manufacturing facility at Bilaspur, for the two other specific locations mentioned, we are in the process of submitting a full compliance report to the BIS and hope to start production very soon," Mr Gupta said.

PepsiCo, meanwhile, stated that its plants manufacturing Aquafina already comply with the new bottled water norms, which came into effect from January 1, 2004.

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