Pepsi entered into the Indian beverage market in July 1986 as a joint venture with two local partners, Voltas and Punjab Agro, forming “Pepsi Foods Ltd.”
Coca-Cola followed suit in 1990 with a joint venture with Britannia Industries India and then in 1993 aligning with Parle, the leader in the industry.
The primary barrier to Pepsi’s entry into the Indian market was its political and legal environment as a result of its history; also, the government mandates that Pepsi products be promoted under the name “Lehar Pepsi” within the Indian market. Despite the CEO of Pepsi said: “We’re willing to go so far with India because we want to be sure we get an early entry while the market is developing.”
In May 1990, Coca-Cola reenters Indian by means of a proposed joint venture with local bottling. The primary barrier to Coca-Cola’s entry into the Indian market was its political and legal environment. The government turned down this application. However, Coca-Cola made its return to India by joining forces with Britannia Industries India Ltd., The new venture was called “Britco Foods”.
At that time, Coca-Cola would not take market share away from local companies because the beverage market was itself growing consistency from year to year. This is disadvantage of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola(1990) into the market a few years after Pepsientered(1986) that mean PepsiCo has more experience than Coca-Cola.
While coke application is deny and Pepsi’s is being approve ,giving them a head start in the market, but they are facing competition and a market that don’t typically consume carbonated products.
As Coca-Cola entered the market, one of the competitors is ready to align with Coke while Pepsi Struggled.