Package Water pioneer Ramesh Chauhan plans selling 53-year old brand

Mumbai: Ramesh Chauhan, the maharaja of package water, soft drinks, juices and cokes, is reported to be negotiating to sell off  Bisleri brand to Tata Consumer Products. Ramesh Chauhan  is the man behind several popular soft drink brands such as Limca, Gold Spot, Thumbs Up and more.  He controls the Rs. 7,000 crore aeriated water empire along with his wife and 37-year-old daughter Jayanti Chauhan. With Chauhan getting older, at 82 and daughter unwilling to take over family business, they have no option than to sell off the flourishing enterprise at an approximate value of Rs. 7,000 crores to any enthusiastic buyer with a vision to expand further.

Ramesh Chauhan’s father Jayantilal set up Parle group as a small enterprise in 1949 as biscuit company. He acquired Bisleri brand, sold as mineral and pure water in disposable bottles in 1969 from an Italian owner Felice Bisleri. Riding the success of bottled water, the group kept on adding more drinking options for thirsty consumers is owned by Parle group, Thums Up was the Numero Uno brand of the group soon, but was sold out to Coca Cola later.
Bisleri has become synonymous with ‘clean drinking water’ in India and enjoys top position. is available everywhere.

The current management will continue for two years as part of the proposed deal according to the sources. Chauhan, 82, has been in indifferent health in recent times and says he doesn’t have a successor to take Bisleri to the next level of expansion. Daughter Jayanti isn’t too keen on the business, Chauhan said. Bisleri is India’s largest packaged water company.

Chauhan doesn’t want to hold any minority stakes after selling the business. “What will I do with it when I am not running the show?” he is reported to have said.

After exiting the bottled water business, Chauhan intends to refocus and invest in environmental and charitable causes such as water harvesting, plastic recycling and helping the poor get medical treatment.                                                   (pics credit-Bisleri group)