Leading liquor producer Shaw Wallace Breweries entered the bottled drinking water segment with the launch of Royal Challenge Just-Chill brand in Bangalore Saturday.
Company director Deepak Chaudhuri told reporters that the Rs 1200-crore (Rs 12 billion) bottled-water market has been growing at an annual rate of 30 per cent since the last few years. From the initial 2 to 4 per cent penetration in the first year, the company is aiming to garner 15 per cent of the market by 2005.
With technology derived from Canadian 'Clear', the company franchised Tej Kamal Trade Links for the manufacture of the bottled water at a state-of-the-art technology plant. The drinking water will be micron-filtered, UV-treated, ozonised and reverse osmosis- processed for freshness and purity, Chaudhuri said.
There are more than 500 labeled drinking water brands in the country.
UNI