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P.T. Jyothi Datta

NEW DELHI, Feb. 6

IF the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has its way, one just might see a `kela' (banana) soft drink emerging as a healthy alternative to the colas!

Coming at a time when cola majors are looking at coconut water, among other things, this technology could well help the small entrepreneur take on the beverage battle, purely on a health platform.

The technology for this ready-to-serve (RTS) beverage, prepared from clarified banana juice, has been developed by ICAR's Tiruchi-based institute - the National Research Centre for Banana (NRCB).

ICAR representatives told Business Line that the drink contained no preservatives, had a shelf-life of six months and the cost of production worked out to Rs 2-Rs 3 per 250 ml. "Compare this to the carbonated drinks or fruit-based drinks in the market. They are priced at an average of Rs 5 for a 200 ml bottle and about Rs 10 for a 300 ml bottle," the official pointed out.

The NRCB has standardised the method of preparing a banana-based juice and aerated soft drinks prepared from the clarified banana juice. But this is as far as the research institute will go. Responding to how they plan to commercialise the drink, the official said: "Our mandate is to develop technologies which can be commercialised by entrepreneurs in the segment. Given that the country has an abundance of fruits and fruit-based drinks have been popular thirst-quenchers, the nutritive value of the products we develop is far greater than the synthetic products that are being bottled and sold in large quantities."

However, this is not the first time that indigenous fruit-based drinks have been rolled out. Another institute, under the Agriculture Ministry - the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) - had, in the past, developed technologies for mango, litchi and pear drinks and marketed them under the label of `Pusa Drinks'.

But with the onus on entrepreneurs to make more out of the low-cost technology, ICAR hopes that players in the food-processing segment pick up from where the two institutes have left off. Any takers?

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