Bottled Water means water intended for human consumption and which is sealed in bottles and other containers with no added ingredients except that it may occasionally contain safe anti-microbial agent. Now-a-days safe and pure drinking water is major necessity for human being. Bottled water industry, colloquially called, the mineral water industry, is a symbol of new life style emerging in India. While a large segment of the population is struggling to get access to potable water supply, a new generation - especially in the urban areas is getting accustomed to bottled water paying handsome prices. Pet is the most extensively recycled plastic of the present time. Bottled water is available in differently sized packaging from 200 ml (popular on flights) to 500 ml (a huge hit among the youth) to 1 liter and 2 liter. Despite the large number of small producers, this industry is dominated by the big players Parle, Bisleri, Coca-cola, Pepsico, Parle Agro, Mohan Meakins, SKN Breweries bottled water in the country when it introduced besleri in India 25 years ago. Apart from domestic and commercial use of packaged water, the Indian Railways is a huge potential market. According to officials at cherio, the railway ordered 10,000 cases (of 12 bottles each) a day. In coming years the demand of packaged drinking water will be increased very rapidly, so there is a huge scope for new entrepreneurs to venture into this project. The bottled water market is growing at a rapid rate of around 20% a year (down from 50 to 60%). At this growth rate, the Rs 7000 million per year market is estimated to overtake the soft drinks market soon. Multinationals, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle and others are trying to grab a significant share of the market. There are more than 180 brands in the unorganized sector. The small players account for nearly 19% of the total market. The government decided towards end of the year 2000 to bring about stringent guidelines for packaged water. All companies were made to sell their products only under the BIS (Bureau of Industrial Standards) certification mark. The BIS certification was made mandatory for the segment from April 1, 2001. The bottled water is to be classified as "food" and has been brought under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. They would have to adhere to rules pertaining to colour, odour, taste, turbidity, total dissolved solids and aerobic microbial count. Leading Brands Bailley, Bisleri, Peppy Minerelli, Trupthi, Kristal, Oasis, Yes, Penguin, Golden Eagle, Stream, Kingfisher, Jaldhara, Pondicherry, Himalayan, Golden Valley Stream, Evion, Aquafina, Perrier, Kinley, Pure Life, Ferra, Relle. Few Indian Major Players are as under: Bikaji Marketing Ltd. Bisil Plast Ltd. Bisleri (India) Pvt. Ltd. Haldiram Marketing Pvt. Ltd. Keventer Agro Ltd. Kothari Products Ltd. Mohan Meakin Ltd. Mount Everest Mineral Water Ltd. N E P C Agro Foods Ltd. Orient Beverages Ltd. Parle International Pvt. Ltd. Pepsico India Holdings Pvt. Ltd. Pondicherry Agro Service & Inds. Corpn. Ltd. S & S Industries & Enterprises Ltd. Southern Agrifurane Inds. Ltd. Sparkle Foods Ltd.
