The Hindu Business Line : Pepsi's Indira Nooyi meets Chidambaram

While it could not be ascertained what transpired at the meeting, sources said it was possible that Ms Nooyi met the Minister to press for soft drink industry's demands related to the forthcoming Budget.

Both Coca-Cola India and PepsiCo India have been urging the Government to withdraw the 8 per cent special excise duty (SED) for a number of years, pointing out that soft drinks are the only food and beverage product to attract this levy. In fact, both companies had said in their pre-Budget memorandum, when the present UPA Government came to power last year, that unless this levy is waived, lowered soft drink prices may no longer be sustainable. Both companies then increased prices by up to Rs 2 in select markets. Added to the woes of this industry is the steep increase in prices of sugar over the last few weeks, thus increasing their input costs and putting pressure on margins.

Ms Nooyi's visit also comes at a time when PepsiCo would be working on sales targets for 2005 in India. The company claimed over 20 per cent volume growth due to the lower price point strategy till August 2004.

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