INTRODUCTION

Water is the fountain of all life. Even a toddler knows that it is a commodity with utmost importance.
Nearly 60% of our body weight comprises of water. Water can also be the cause to a great deal of
misery specially in India where contaminated water continues to bring down millions with diseases
like diarrhea, dysentery, typhoid, jaundice and gastro-enteritis.
Getting pure drinking water in cities and towns has now become a luxury. At most homes people are
forced to either boil water to make it appropriate for drinking or they have to install water purifiers.
While travelling or eating at restaurants buying packaged drinking water has become a necessity.
This need has seen an explosion of companies marketing safe drinking water in bottles across the
country.

THE PACKAGED DRINKING WATER INDUSTRY- AN OVERVIEW

India is the tenth largest bottled water consumer in the world. The present scenario shows that it is
one of the fastest growing industrial sectors. There are nearly 200 brands, 80% of which are local.
Most of the small scale producers sell non-branded products and serve small markets. Despite the
large number of small sellers, the industry is dominated by big players like Bisleri, Aquafina, Mc
Dowells, Parle Bailley and so on.

PLANT REVIEW:

There are two working units of the factory. One at Dahisar and the other is at Kurla. The unit at
Dahisar is the larger of the two units. It has a huge processing and manufaturing plant. The one at
Kurla also does the same work of manufacturing and processing but is relatively smaller. For the
purpose of accounting, both these units are considered as one factory but they both have individual
licenses. The factory is one that produces packaged drinking water and according to the Bureau of
Indian Standards, such a factory must necessarily have a micro-biologist and a chemist. Both the
plants thus have a microbiologist and a chemist who perform timely tests on sample water in order
to maintain the quality and BIS standards with regard to the chemical composition and purity of the
water.

MANUFACTURING PROCESS:

MARKET SEGMENTATION:

The packaged drinking water market is segmented according to the type of consumers who
generally are: * Foreign tourists

* Domestic tourists

* Corporate houses

* Health conscious people

* Restaurants and clubs etc

The packaged drinking water market is also segmented on the basis of pack sizes. * 1 litre bottles

* 500 ml bottles

* 300 ml bottles
* 20 litre jars

* 200 ml cups etc

SWOT ANALYSIS OF THE INDIAN PACKAGED DRINKING WATER INDUSTRY:

STRENGHTS:

* The industry is gaining momentum at a rapid rate.

* The market is huge and untapped

* Awareness among the people with regard to pure and safe drinking water * Available in
convenient pack sizes 300 ml, 500 ml, 1000ml and 2000 ml for bulk requirements

WEAKNESSES:

* Too many players entering the market

* Any local seller can start manufacturing easily

* Lack of demand in the rural area

* Not very economical

* Quality can be tampered with easily

* Lack of brand loyalty due to entrance of MNC brands like evian etc * Lack of advertising to build
brand preference

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Sustained market growth increase in the coming years

* Growth in literacy rate can increase consumption of packaged drinking water due the health &
safety reasons * Huge population and untapped market

* Unreliable municipal water quality

THREATS:

* Too many players can dilute the market and also the profit...