MAM
CG Foods launches Wai Wai instant noodle in India
MUMBAI: ‘Munch it, lunch it, soup it.’ That’s the tagline of Wai Wai, an instant noodle product, which has launched in India.
Wai Wai will be stepping into the instant noodle market which is currently estimated at Rs 4 billion. It can be eaten in three ways: straight out of the pack, cooked, or even as a soup. It brings in two variants – Wai Wai Brown (veg and non-veg), priced at Rs10 and Wai Wai white (veg and non-veg) at Rs11.
CG Foods India, a subsidiary of a US$ 300 million Cinnovation Group, is bringing Wai Wai into India. CG has a technical collaboration with Chaudhary Group of Nepal.
Commenting on the company’s entry into the Indian instant noodle market, Chaudhary Group director Nirvana Chaudhary said, “Our decision to enter India was driven by two factors: Firstly, our ability to offer value-added instant noodles to consumers, which can be eaten straight out of the pack or cooked or even as a soup and expanding the choice set of instant noodles available. Secondly, the category offers a tremendous growth opportunity as processed food accounts for 53 per cent of the total food consumption in the country. We aim to reach Rs 3 billion landmark and establish CG Foods as the 2nd largest noodle brand in the next 3 years.”
The noodle market is driven by taste, convenience, affordability and availability, states an official release. CG Foods India is setting up two manufacturing units in Sikkim and Uttaranchal, with an investment of around Rs 400 million to manufacture Wai Wai and other snack foods like potato chips and cheese balls in technical collaboration with Chaudhary Group of Nepal.
Each of these facilities will be spread over an area of 5-6 acres and have a production capacity of 10,000MT each. The new facilities will help the company cater to the entire north-east, north, west and east Indian region.
The company has earmarked an advertising budget of Rs 600 million, which will include electronic, outdoor and print media to create visibility and awareness for Wai Wai noodles in India.
Commenting on the marketing strategy for Wai Wai noodles CG Foods India CEO T K Gupta said, “Wai Wai noodles will target the in-home consumption category. The noodles will be marketed using both above the line advertising as well as a complete below the line programme that will ensure extensive consumer sampling and market demonstrations.”
CG Foods plans to have an initial network of 1000 distributors in the first year, spread across major town and cities in India. The group also plans to target 200,000 retail outlets across India, to gain a competitive edge by being efficient in the supply of their products to consumers and improve profitability, states the media release.
Digital
Content India 2026 opens with a copro pitch, a spice evangelist and a £10,000 prize for Indian storytelling
Dish TV and C21Media’s three-day summit puts seven ambitious projects before an international jury, and two walk away with serious development money
MUMBAI: India’s content industry gathered in Mumbai this March for Content India 2026, a three-day summit organised by Dish TV in partnership with C21Media, and it wasted no time making a statement. The event opened with a Copro Pitch that put seven scripted and unscripted television concepts before an international panel of judges, and by the end of it, two projects had walked away with £10,000 each in marketing prize money from C21Media to support development and international promotion.
The jury, comprising Frank Spotnitz, Fiona Campbell, Rashmi Bajpai, Bal Samra and Rachel Glaister, evaluated a shortlist that ranged from a dark Mumbai comedy-drama about mental health (Dirty Minds, created by Sundar Aaron) to a Delhi coming-of-age mystery (Djinn Patrol, by Neha Sharma and Kilian Irwin), a techno-thriller about a teenage gaming prodigy (Kanpur X Satori, by Suchita Bhatia), an investigative crime drama blending mythology and modern thriller (The Age of Kali, by Shivani Bhatija), a documentary on India’s spice heritage (The Masala Quest, hosted by Sarina Kamini), a documentary on competitive gaming (Respawn: India’s Esports Revolution, by George Mangala Thomas and Sangram Mawari), and a reality-horror competition merging gaming and immersive fear (Scary Goose, by Samar Iqbal).
The session was hosted by Mayank Shekhar.
The two winners were Djinn Patrol, backed by Miura Kite, formerly of Participant Media and known for Chinatown and Keep Sweet: Pray & Obey, with Jaya Entertainment, producers of Real Kashmir Football Club, also attached; and The Masala Quest, created and hosted by Sarina Kamini, an Indian-Australian cook, author and self-described “spice evangelist.”
The summit also unveiled the Content India Trends Report, whose findings made for bracing reading. Daoud Jackson, senior analyst at OMDIA, set the tone: “By 2030, online video in India will nearly double the revenue of traditional TV, becoming the main driver of growth.” He noted that in 2025, India produced a quarter of all YouTube videos globally, overtaking the United States, while Indians collectively spend 117 years daily on YouTube and 72 years on Instagram. Traditional subscription TV is declining as free TV and connected TV gain ground, forcing broadcasters to innovate. “AI-generated content is just 2 per cent of engagement,” Jackson added, “highlighting the dominance of high-quality human content. The key for Indian media companies is scaling while monetising effectively from day one.”
Hannah Walsh, principal analyst at Ampere Analysis, added hard numbers to the picture. India produced over 24,000 titles in January 2026 alone, with 19,000 available internationally. The country now accounts for 12 per cent of Asia-Pacific content spend, up from 8 per cent in 2021, outpacing both Japan and China. Key exporters include JioStar, Zee Entertainment, Sony India, Amazon and Netflix, delivering over 7,500 Indian-produced titles abroad each year. The top importing markets are Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Egypt, the United States and the Philippines. Scripted content dominates globally at 88 per cent, with crime dramas and children’s and family titles performing particularly strongly.
Manoj Dobhal, chief executive and executive director of Dish TV India, framed the summit’s ambition squarely. “Stories don’t need translation. They need a platform, discovery, and reach, local or global,” he said. “India produces more movies than any country, our streaming platforms compete globally, and our tech and creators win international awards. Yet fragmentation slows growth. Producers, platforms, and tech move in different lanes. We need shared spaces, collaboration, and an ecosystem where ideas, technology, and people meet. That is why we built Content India.”
The data, the pitches and the prize money all pointed to the same conclusion: India is not waiting for the world to discover its stories. It is building the infrastructure to sell them.
