Global beverages major The Coca-Cola Company is bullish on the Indian market and is continuing to invest in the country through its partners, the company’s President and Chief Financial Officer John Murphy said on Monday.
India’s rapid progress in infrastructure, electrification and digitisation offer a long runway ahead for the economy to grow and it fosters confidence, he said at a media round table here.
A lot of development has taken place in urban and rural India, which has created an emerging middle class, ensuring growth for many years to come, he said.
“When you have an economy growing, our industry typically benefits from economic growth,” he said.
“For us, there are tremendous ingredients to the growth equation that we are developing. And to manage growth, you have to invest. We are fortunate to have partners in India who believe in the opportunity they have and are investing in infrastructure and people,” he noted.
A lot of investment is underway through franchise bottling partners in the country, who are investing while “believing the opportunity ahead”, he said, adding that it is going to continue.
The cola major, which is divesting investments in bottling operations around the world, including the Indian market, would continue the exercise in a “thoughtful and very deliberate manner” as it plans to focus on building brands and being a good franchisor, he said.
About the reasons for the company’s bullish outlook on India, he said infrastructure development that is taking place in a “systematic way” across India is a keydriver.
Moreover, electrification in the rural parts has also transformed the landscape, which is an “extraordinary progress”.