Campa Cola to Set Up ₹1,000 Crore Bottling Plant in Begusarai, Bihar

A major jump for Bihar’s industrial growth and in India’s FMCG space, Reliance Consumer Products Ltd (RCPL), the FMCG vertical of Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Industries Ltd, in a recent announcement, informed that will set up a state of the art Campa Cola bottling and manufacturing plant in Begusarai, Bihar. 

The project, which involves an investment outlay of ₹1,000 crore, is expected to act as a catalyst for regional economic development, creation of employment and to further consolidate Campa Cola’s market position in eastern India.

Strategic Expansion into Eastern Markets

RCPL’s Begusarai facility is a part of its plan to capture rising demand in eastern and northeastern states. The inauguration of its Guwahati plant earlier this year is complemented by the inauguration of the Begusarai plant as a step towards the scale of its beverage operations in high potential Tier II and Tier III cities.

Spread over 35 acres of land given by Bihar Industrial Area Development Authority (BIADA), the facility will include manufacturing, bottling, warehousing as well as logistics. Consequently, EPIC Agro Products Pvt. Ltd. (a partner of the Reliance Group) will own and operate the unit.

Reliance’s decision to move CampaCola.Com is in line with its strategy to deepen rural and semi-urban market penetration that draws heavily on nostalgic appeal of legacy brands like Campa Cola.

Revival of a Homegrown Icon

As part of Reliance’s mission to revive and rebrand domestic heritage products, the company acquired Cola from Reliance Retail for Reliance One in 2022. However, the soft drink has made a comeback of dynamic proportions with Campa Lemon, Campa Orange and Campa Energy Drink being launched under the revived brand name.

It is expected that the Begusarai plant will be at the center of mass production and bottling of products, which will be supplied to Bihar, Jharkhand, Bengal, Odisha and areas bordering Nepal.

The plant will utilize the best of technology and sustainability practices to be an energy efficient, water optimized and low carbon plant, something that is aligned with the green manufacturing protocol the company aspires to follow.

Employment and Economic Impact for Bihar

It is estimated that the bottling facility will make over 3,000 direct and indirect jobs across its supply and value chain. The establishment of the plant is also expected to benefit local vendors, logistic providers, raw material suppliers as well as ancillary industries.

“The move is a landmark investment in Bihar’s industrial narrative,” said Bihar’s Deputy Chief Minister. This is a testimony of us becoming a competitive manufacturing destination for India and our policy ecosystem gives Reliance a confidence about coming to the state,” Sachin said. Moreover, RCPL has confirmed to run skilling programs in collaboration with the local ITIs and institutes that deal with technology, for training the local youth for employment in the operation and maintenance wings of the plant.

A Push to Localized FMCG Manufacturing

The move of reliance is emblematic of a larger home – grown shift in the Indian FMCG sector where the manufacturing is localized and decentralized for manufacturing and supplying of products to local markets rapidly and at lower logistics costs.

Campa Cola is designing its taste to suit regional flavours, gets packaged at lesser cost and plans to offer higher trade margins to undercut the world’s number two and number three brands (in case of Pepsi and Coke) based on price sensitivity. RCPL’s distribution network is also being strengthened, with the company apparently adding more than 2,000 stockists and sub-stockists over Eastern India in Q1 of FY2025.

Competitive Landscape and Market Disruption

Campa Cola’s experience on a new high, soft drink market in India has seen the resurgence of a new layer of competition. Campa Cola, with nostalgic branding, aggressive pricing and higher trade margins for retailers, has become a serious challenger for urban as well as rural markets.

The ₹60,000 crore Indian carbonated beverage market was seeing a reordering and Reliance wants a 10 per cent market share in the next two years. To achieve the maximum reach, the company has already signed distribution deals with large retail chains, kirana networks and online grocery platforms.

Consequently, existing players are being pushed to offer Campa options, reduce prices, or enter collaborations with players in the same region.

Campa Cola’s Vision Beyond India

Campa Cola is also expanding the global penetration of RCPL. The company has come out with its products in the UAE this year, and is looking at strategic tie ups in Southeast Asia, East Africa and the Middle East to make the campaign competitive yet proud to be an Indian global brand. A senior RCPL executive said their aim is no revival of Campa, but repositioning it as India’s soft drink to the world. “That is just the beginning of the story of Begusarai.”

When integrating advanced automation, AI driven supply chains, and a localised marketing campaign as part of its reinvention, Campa Cola presents an entirely new way of re-inventing legacy Indian brands for the 21st century.

Conclusion: A Milestone for Both Campa and Bihar

Besides being a business move, this launch of a ₹1,000 crore bottling plant in Begusarai signifies the revival of Indian heritage brands, reaffirming Bihar’s development story and realigning India’s FMCG sector towards self-sufficiency, local relevance.

With construction slated to start in the mid-2025 and likely to have operations start by mid-2026, stakeholders in the beverage industry and government circles will keep an eye on the order.