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Ladhani group’s SLMG Beverages pops open Rs 11,000 crore fizzy investment plan for Coca-Cola
MUMBAI: SLMG Beverages – Coca-Cola’s largest Indian bottler – is brewing up a storm with ambitious expansion plans that would make even the most hardened business tycoons gasp for breath.
Ladhani Group, the fizz-fuelled empire behind SLMG Beverages, announced yesterday a whopping Rs 11,000 crore investment strategy over the next five years, with the lion’s share – Rs 8,000 crore – earmarked for expanding its bottling dominance across Uttar Pradesh and newly-conquered Bihar.
“We’re looking at doubling our revenue to Rs 20,000 crore,” said joint managing director Paritosh Ladhani, whose ambition seems as effervescent as the products his company bottles at a mind-boggling rate of 40 million per day.
Already among Coca-Cola’s top 15 global bottlers, SLMG has set its sights on cracking the elite top 10 by 2030. The company recently stormed into Bihar after snatching up territorial rights from Coca-Cola’s own bottling arm HCCBL, a move described by industry insiders as “gaining prime real estate in India’s beverage battleground.”
The Lucknow-based firm is currently constructing a Rs 1,200 crore plant in Bihar’s Buxar district, with another Rs 1,500 crore facility in the pipeline. Meanwhile, its existing plants near Lucknow, Amethi, Bareilly and Ayodhya will receive substantial upgrades.
Not content with dominating just one sector, the group plans to splash Rs 3,000 crore into its hospitality business, doubling its hotel room portfolio faster than you can say “ice and a slice.”
“Our per capita consumption is still quite low and we are aspiring to catch up,” noted Vivek Ladhani, executive director, in a masterclass of understatement – considering Indians currently drink roughly one-eighth the cola Americans consume annually.
The company’s aggressive expansion comes just as year ago-appointed CEO Costin Mandrea settles into his role. The European veteran brings 25 years of beverage industry expertise and a bold mission: “We are building the first Indian world-class bottler, a bottler that is made in India and able to sit at the same table with bottlers from Latin America, Europe and Asia.”
With its newly expanded territory now covering a staggering 360 million potential consumers across UP, Uttarakhand and Bihar, SLMG appears poised to ride India’s fizzy drinks boom, which is expected to bubble up at a refreshing 7.29 percent annually through 2028.
When asked about a potential IPO, Ladhani remained coy: “Definitely, we have a plan.” But for now, the company seems content to shake up the market through explosive growth rather than share offerings, backed by what executives described as “sufficient internal accruals” to fund their effervescent ambitions.
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Rajiv Bajaj quits Bajaj Finance board ahead of July AGM
The managing director of Bajaj Auto will step down as a non-executive director of the private lender, ending a long association with the company
Rajiv Bajaj is clearing his desk at Bajaj Finance. The managing director of Bajaj Auto has told the private lender that he will not seek re-election at its annual general meeting scheduled for July 30, 2026, bringing to a close a board tenure that spanned one of the most eventful chapters in Indian consumer finance.
According to a regulatory filing, Bajaj will cease to be a non-executive director of the company upon completion of the AGM. The board of directors, taking note of his departure at its meeting on Wednesday, placed on record its appreciation for his long association and contribution to the company.
The exit is notable. Bajaj is not merely a board name at Bajaj Finance. He has been part of the broader Bajaj group for over three decades, cutting his teeth across manufacturing, supply chain, research and development, engineering and marketing before rising to lead Bajaj Auto. He also holds directorships across several Bajaj group companies, including Bajaj Holdings and Investment Ltd, Bajaj Auto Credit Ltd, Bajaj Auto Technology Ltd, Bajaj Sevashram Pvt Ltd, Kamalnayan Investment and Trading Pvt Ltd and Rupa Equities Pvt Ltd, among others.
Bajaj holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Pune and a master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering from the University of Warwick, and has been credited with steering Bajaj Auto’s global operations through years of aggressive expansion.
His departure from the Bajaj Finance board narrows his formal footprint in the financial services arm of the group, even as he remains the public face of its automotive engine. Whether it signals a broader consolidation of roles within the conglomerate or simply a tidying of board responsibilities, the group has not said.
Bajaj Finance, one of India’s most closely watched non-banking financial companies, will now need to fill the chair he leaves behind. That, at least, should not take long.
