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. The phenomenal increase in demand for bottled water from just 2.0 mn cases in 1990-91 to 68 mn cases presently was being boosted further by the concern and need for safe drinking water. What is amazing is that people are prepared to pay Rs 10 for a litre of simple water - especially when the cost of material input is negligible. The cost of packaging can be as high as 15% to 35% of the price of the product. 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 mn 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 unorganised sector. The small players account for nearly 19% of the total market. Nevertheless, per capita consumption of bottled water in India is less than half a litre per year, compared to 111 litres in France and 45 litres in the US. This points to the future potential beyond the high growth. The premium bottled water market in India has brands like Evian, San Pelligrino, Perrier, priced between Rs 80 and Rs 110 per litre. The other segment is essentially purified water priced low at about Rs 10 a litre. It is crowded with numerous brands like Bisleri, Kinley, Aquafina, Himalaya, Hello. 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. Soda water is nothing but mixture of purged carbon dioxide at above atmospheric pressure in certain packaged material. It may be PET or glass bottle. Introduction of PET bottle is modern plastic packaging material. It is eco-plastic which can be converted to clay. All the three projects in a single unit have good scope. 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. Sri Sarvaraya Sugars Ltd. Surat Beverages Ltd. Capacity : 17280 Th. Nos Bottles 1 Ltrs Cap. Drinking Water 10080 Th. Nos. Bottles 600 Ml. Soda Water 720 Th. Nos. PET Jar 20 Ltrs. Drinking Water