Bisleri International Ltd is planning to invest Rs 300 crore in the next two years towards capacity building and is planning to open one factory every month for the next two years. It is also looking at expanding its brand portfolio with a product, which will be a combination of an energy drink and a flavoured drink.
The company has drawn up ambitious plans for the next couple of years. Ramesh Chauhan, chairman, Bisleri International Pvt Ltd, told FE, ?We are planning to up the revenues by 70%, increase the volume of sales by 60% and expand our capacity by 100%.? Bisleri earned a revenue of Rs 350 crore in the last fiscal. Chauhan claimed Bisleri has 60% share in the bottled water market.
The Mumbai-based bottled water company is embarking on a massive expansion spree. After the metros, it is now going to explore tier-II and tier-III cities. ?In the next couple of months we will have new plants in cities like Varanasi, Coimbatore, Haridwar, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi,? Chauhan said.
Some of these factories will be of standard size with a production capacity of 7,200 bottles per hour and others will be smaller in size which will have half the production capacity. ?We will start consolidating our factories after our expansion plans are through. Then, we will have bigger units with a capacity which is probably four times of the present units,? explained Chauhan.
Another reason for such rapid expansion explains Chauhan is that the freight costs are very high. The company currently has 50 factories all over India and a fleet size of 5,000 vehicles. In cities like Nagpur, Wadiki, Madurai and Haridwar it has recently opened new units. Apart from new plants, its fundswill be used for machinery and vehicles.
Though Delhi and Mumbai are its strongest market Chauhan said, ?Chennai has a high potential for this segment because it is the biggest consumer of water.? There are a lot of local players in the market who are into cheap packaging. Chauhan is confident that he can offer a better alternative to the people of Chennai.